Righteous Reformer Recommendation Letter Essay

Timothy McNeilly

AP US History

Mrs. Frey

Righteous Reformer Recommendation Letter During the time period surrounding the eighteen hundreds there was little knowledge on many topics, and minimal awareness especially in the United States. This lack of awareness violated rights and ultimately hurt many individuals from different groups of people. The groups affected by the widespread ignorance were slaves, women, the mentally ill and the native people of the Americans. At the time period slavery was still vastly believed in, many had made it a basis for living. This is where abolitionists came in, abolitionist fought for the rights of a group that could not fight for themselves, looking to gain rights for men women and children of a different but equal race. Women were affected in that there

While some focused on abolition and women’s rights, others focused on the pressing matter on Indian interactions and treatment. Leading into the eighteen hundreds and all through Indians were being treated very poorly. The white American’s used superior power to manipulate the native people. Many thought of the Indians as lesser but some realized that they were equal to the whites and these people fought for better treatment and more Indian rights. Though the reformers pertaining to these groups fought for good just causes there is one reformer that stands out. That reformer is Dorthea Dix, and she stands out for the work she did pertaining to the mentally ill and also for being a firm advocate for women’s rights.. At this time mental illness was not understood and was looked down upon. Dorthea sought to change this and made efforts to help the mentally ill and change public opinion on an illness that should not be shunned. Dorthea Dix stands out as a reformer for her fundamental role changing public opinion in challenging the idea that people with mental illness cannot be cured or