Several reform movements regarding the advancement of democratic ideals gained traction from 1825 to 1850. Activists were concerned with social and institutional issues, principal among these being temperance, abolitionism, women's rights, religion, education, and the penal system. However, this period also saw the emergence of decidedly anti-democratic nativist policies designed to oppress recently naturalized citizens.
The pressure for social reform began as a response to perceived degradations in American society. Increased burden was placed on large cities during the late 1820s as large influxes of immigrants poured into the United States, creating the usual problems of urbanization: overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, disease, and general …show more content…
Trapped in a “cult of domesticity” that asserted that women were meant to be merely the shapers of the men in the world, they viewed their position as akin to slavery, as exhibited by Peter Graves’ 1835 engraving depicting a kneeling, enchained woman pleading, “Am I not a Woman and a Sister?” (Document C). Oftentimes an individual’s involvement in women’s rights movements was precipitated by abolitionist activism, which was considered eye-opening to many of the time as the oppression of blacks was obvious but the oppression of women was hotly debated. Viewed as the most radical of the reform issues, abolitionism is also one of the more well-known subjects of the time. It was an important fixture of many key movements of the time, such as transcendentalism. The debate about slavery had been a contentious one since even before the formation of the United States, with anti-slavery sentiment dating as far back as the first importations of slaves into the colonies. Concern with slavery was one of the most democratic advancements of the second quarter of …show more content…
Nativists strove to deny incoming immigrants of their right to suffrage through the modification of the Naturalization Law, essentially attempting to place a cut-off date on foundational American ideals.
Institutional changes followed social reform as the fever of change ramped up. The population center was shifting from rural farms to industrial cities at the same time that it was moving steadily westward, a testament to the rapidity of American expansionism; the end of the Antebellum period finally saw the center of population move out of Virginia, whose people and politics had held substantial sway over the rest of America since the dawn of the country. The opening of a new frontier, both economically and geographically, spurred a necessity for a different set of skills than those of their predecessors; a response to this burgeoning need took shape in the advocation of public education. It was believed that providing opportunities for every white man and woman (and some free blacks) to receive an education would promote citizenship, morality, and patriotism while also equipping people to fight poverty--which, it was believed, would promote alcoholism, crime, and
The pressure for social reform began as a response to perceived degradations in American society. Increased burden was placed on large cities during the late 1820s as large influxes of immigrants poured into the United States, creating the usual problems of urbanization: overcrowding, unsanitary conditions, disease, and general …show more content…
Trapped in a “cult of domesticity” that asserted that women were meant to be merely the shapers of the men in the world, they viewed their position as akin to slavery, as exhibited by Peter Graves’ 1835 engraving depicting a kneeling, enchained woman pleading, “Am I not a Woman and a Sister?” (Document C). Oftentimes an individual’s involvement in women’s rights movements was precipitated by abolitionist activism, which was considered eye-opening to many of the time as the oppression of blacks was obvious but the oppression of women was hotly debated. Viewed as the most radical of the reform issues, abolitionism is also one of the more well-known subjects of the time. It was an important fixture of many key movements of the time, such as transcendentalism. The debate about slavery had been a contentious one since even before the formation of the United States, with anti-slavery sentiment dating as far back as the first importations of slaves into the colonies. Concern with slavery was one of the most democratic advancements of the second quarter of …show more content…
Nativists strove to deny incoming immigrants of their right to suffrage through the modification of the Naturalization Law, essentially attempting to place a cut-off date on foundational American ideals.
Institutional changes followed social reform as the fever of change ramped up. The population center was shifting from rural farms to industrial cities at the same time that it was moving steadily westward, a testament to the rapidity of American expansionism; the end of the Antebellum period finally saw the center of population move out of Virginia, whose people and politics had held substantial sway over the rest of America since the dawn of the country. The opening of a new frontier, both economically and geographically, spurred a necessity for a different set of skills than those of their predecessors; a response to this burgeoning need took shape in the advocation of public education. It was believed that providing opportunities for every white man and woman (and some free blacks) to receive an education would promote citizenship, morality, and patriotism while also equipping people to fight poverty--which, it was believed, would promote alcoholism, crime, and