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American Reform Movements In The 1800s

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In Ronald G. Walters book, American Reformers, he explains the complicated topic of reform movements of the 1800s. These movements included: religious revivalism, women’s suffrage, temperance, and abolition. Each of these topics uniquely tell a story about Americans’ attitudes towards their society and its problems. Religion has always been a large part of American history, and in the 1800s it took a different form. Walters writes, “...but men and women, girls and boys, became convinced of their own sinfulness, went through intense emotional turmoil, and emerged with a belief that they had been saved...the evangelical message was proclaimed across the land and the public responded with explosions of spiritual zeal” (p. 20). The Second Great …show more content…

This changed, however, after an inquiry written by Dr. Benjamin Rush, “he accepted the notion that beer, cider, and wine were good for the health and well-being, but he put his prestige behind the argument that distilled beverages led to physical, mental, and moral destruction” (p. 127). This boosted the temperance movement like no other. Another temperance supported, Lyman Beecher, wanted the American public to stop drinking and trading any type of spirits indefinitely. After saying this, “there were estimates that five thousand state and local societies promoted the cause, that millions of pieces of propaganda were in circulation, and that a million members had pledges to avoid alcohol” (p. 129, 130). Women supported this movement due to the fact that men often became violent after drinking, and tore families apart. Other supporters alleged that intoxication was as evil as slavery, and if wiped out, America would be a better place (p. 131). Statistically, the temperance movement had many supporters, but some of these advocates were hesitant about prohibition, as it was a large market in the country and would put many people out of work. It also caused a rift in abolitionists. Many antislavery people thought it “compromised a commitment to ‘moral suasion’ and the evangelical belief that true goodness could flow only from a converted heart” (p. 137). Temperance was strongest in the Northeast and Midwest, but had Southerners split. A large majority of Southerners were disgusted by the antislavery work done by the American Temperance Union, and lead to many southern temperance movements to appear. Temperance was surprisingly popular in the West, even though this period was one of the most

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