Reforms of the Mid-1800s The 1800s was a busy century for America. From the abolishment of slavery, to technology advancements such as the first sewing machine. But with the Second Great Awakening and new moral values, came new ideas for the government and overall society. The main reforms were temperance, prison, education, and Women's’ education. All of these have lead to good advancements in society, but also come with drawbacks. The Second Great Awakening was a time when priests and ministers were concerned with the American’s commitment to the Christian faith. Camps that lasted several days were held, where they sang hymns, prayed, and gained faith. The Second Great Awakening was meant for people to address their faith in daily life. This gave citizens new ideas and moral values. For, example, before they thought it was okay to drink/get drunk, but after they thought it was wrong and against their values. With this movement in the early 1800s, change began during the mid 1800s. One major problem during this time was alcohol consumption. Some people out in the country drank because of the isolation, while people in the city drank as a leisure activity. People believed that nothing caused more crime, disorder, and poverty than …show more content…
In 1841, a school teacher named Dorothea Dix was asked to teach a Sunday school class at a prison. When she started to teach, she realized the horrible conditions of the prison. Cells were crowded with violent offenders, minor criminals, and mentally ill people. People were dirty, the mentally ill were neglected, and the cells were unheated. Some prisons were even old mineshafts. (American Vision) The majority prisons tortured the convicts by chaining them to chairs and putting them in cages. After the Second Great Awakening, people thought that the mentally ill and all other criminals should still be treated as