Second Great Awakening: An Era Of Social Reform

Before the 19th century in the American society, criminals were executed, whipped, and held in dark cells. The insane wandered around the asylums and were not cared for properly. Reformers wanted to establish an official institution for the insane and criminals that was humane. They believed that reform and rehabilitation was possible in a controlled environment. As part of the humanitarian reforms sweeping through America, asylums and prisons were for criminals and the mentally ill. The emphasis on human perfectibility led some reformers to provide care for the physically and mentally ill. Many people lead this movement including Dorothea Dix. She traveled the country visiting a large amount of asylums and prisons. Through Dix work and others the treatment of patients improved vastly. …show more content…
In the Age of Reform, many Americans believed that the traditional values were not being fulfilled because of the emerging industrial economy. The reformers supported humanitarian and social reforms in an effort to create a moral reform in the United States. Some of these reformers believed in transcendentalism. This religious and philosophical movement promoted the divinity of the individual and sought to perfect human society.
Other reformers were driven more by religion, such as the Protestant revivalism known as the Second Great Awakening. Charles Grandison Finney, one of the preachers, declared alcohol and slavery to be not beneficial for society.The Second Great Awakening reformed many aspects in society. The Shaker, Amana, and Mormons were some that blended religion and non religious institutions to further human perfectibility. Many middle-class women participated in various reform movements including Dorothea Dix. In this era women played leading roles in many of the crusades to reform American