An Era of Reform (1820-1850)

1820-1850 were the years of change. It was the era to break free from old habits and beliefs that the forefathers and those before them had left behind.
In the earlier days of the era (1820-1830), women started to realize the discriminatory that men had towards women and slaves. They started to come to lectures that priests talked about how God will forgive your sins if you do a good deed in exchange. People started to believe that instead of the old belief that God chooses your path when you are born. This led many women and slaves to go on missionaries to seek forgiveness from God so that good things could happen to them as well...

Women were getting more and more involved with issues around America. They fought for the freedom of slaves and issues that they could relate to, being a female. For instance, Dorthea Dix taught Sunday school at a local prison having intentions of doing her “Christian Duty.” She soon realized how bad the living conditions were for the prisoners. They were chained, stuck in cages and some of the inmates were children that were caught for minor theft. The debtors' inmates usually owed less than 20 dollars but couldn’t pay it off. Prisoners weren't the only ones that had it ruff. The mentally ill had dirty, crowded cells and they were considered a crime other than having decease. There was only one mental hospital (Asylum) in Massachusetts and usually only the rich could attend it. Dorthea was appalled by these circumstances so she decided to write a report on it to the state legislators. They read it and were just as appalled as she was so they voted on creating public asylums. Dorthea did this to other states and many state prisons and asylums changed. This was the beginning of women getting more involved and making a difference in the U.S.

Since the earlier days of U.S. history, education wasn’t always the top of the list for a lot of citizens. It wasn’t until the mid-1800’s that people made a change that. Before that, most kids couldn’t afford school and had to work instead. The schools were typically destroyed and in horrible condition on a count of poor children that stolen. Since kids could not attend school, this hurt their future. That had to change. It was voted by the state of Massachusetts to pay taxes for the schools, teacher’s salary and a special training school for the teachers. There was a flaw though it wasn’t the whole state. Women and both black men and women were unable to vote and they weren’t happy about that. They didn’t feel that this was quite fair. By 1850, most white children attended school. Most of the schools were for white boys though. They wouldn’t admit white or black girls, not even black boys. This was mostly common in the north since they had passed a law of no African-Americans in public schools.

In 1837, the first college to admit women to a school was established. It was called, Ohio Oberlin College. This still didn’t help the problem with segregation though. A school teacher named Prudence Crandall let African American children attend her class, mixed with white children. The white parents did not agree with mixing them together so they pulled their child out of school and petitioned against Crandall. Everyday the black children would go to school with a mob of angry people that threw rocks at the school. It got to the point where she was forced to close it down.
This angered many people one including a man called, Horace Mann. He believed that people should have the right to go to school whether they were white, and black, female, and male. So he became the first school president of a college for both men and women of any color. It is called, Antioch College in Ohio. This really helped people realize that everyone is equal. There were some that still needed convincing though.

In 1837, people were rebelling against slavery. They were called abolitionists. They were everyone from white women to former slaves. They spoke at public meetings and made posters. Some posters included a picture of the founding fathers reading the Declaration of Independence and it said “Land of the Free.” Although by 1776, the Quakers in the south had abolished slavery but many northerners still believed in it. Many people did not feel slavery was right so they wanted the slaves to do something about it. Some ideas were to raise a revolt; others on the other hand wanted to handle this issue the peaceful way. Some of the moderates wanted the slave holders to have time to learn how to handle a farm without slaves. There were many very moving arguments and speeches that the abolitionists produced. Usually, women were not allowed to speak in public meetings but two brave women named Angelina and Sarah Grimke spoke out. They spoke out about the poverty of slavery and how much hurt the slaves encounter. They were the role model for many other women to speak out as well.

As women started to speak out more, they realized that women and African Americans were the same in many ways. More and more women white and blacks had meetings and spoke their feelings. A former slave named Sojourner Truth spoke a very touching speech about how women were considered weak and worthless. She states how she watched her children get sold one by one to slavery and how everyday watch them as well as her get whipped after a long day of work in the fields. “Ain’t I a woman?” She asks. Another freed slave that spoke was named, Fredrick Douglass. He wasn’t a woman but believed in both women and black rights.

Many women and men went to a meeting held in London to speak about slavery. Although both male and female went, that still meant that one was more superior to the other. All of the women had to sit on the balcony behind a curtain and they weren’t even allowed to talk at the meeting. This angered many people, two including Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. They had met each other behind the curtain and started to talk about the unfairness of being a woman. This led to the two of them start a convention called The Seneca Falls Convention. It was July 19, 1848 and 300 people attended including 40 men. One of the men was Fredrick Douglass. They all organized a proposal for woman’s rights called The Declaration of Sentiments. The proposal included the right for both men and women to vote, study medical and law and get rid of King George’s acts of tyranny of men being superior to women. Everyone agreed except for Fredrick Douglass. He wanted to make the new proposal count for both white and African Americans. The convention attendee’s agreed and then gave the proposal to state legislators. This changed the people’s minds about women and African Americans. The state of New York formally gave women the right to control property and wages.

America later, gave people of all colors and genders to have equal rights. We can thank the people before us to establish this freedom we all have that they didn’t.