19th Century Reform Movements Essay Example

“Were the early reform movements of the 19th century successful or in vain”. To answer this question, we first need to summarize each major reform that took place during this time: such as, the 2nd Great Awakening, Temperance movement, The Seneca Falls Convention, Public education Reform, and Abolitionism. The people that took part in these events wanted to abolish big issues nationwide such as, Slavery, overdrinking, and Womens suffrage.  

The Second Great Awakening was the Protestant religious revival in the United States from about 1795 to 1835, and one of the major events in American history that led to the birth of the modern-day Protestant Reformation. The awakening is divided into three phases. The first phase of the movement was associated with frontier camp meetings conducted by preachers in Kentucky, Tennessee, and other southern U.S. states during the American Revolutionary War. The second phase (1810–25) was centered in New England under the leadership of theologians Timothy Dwight, Lyman Beecher, Nathaniel W. Taylor, and Asahel Nettleton. The third and final stage (1825–35) was dominated by evangelist Charles Grandison Finney who conducted revival meetings in the largest cities in the United States and Britain. To summarize, the second great awakening was the revival of the belief in God's word. It was a success because thousands of people converted back to the Methodist church.  

The very first temperance associations believe to have been formed in 1808 in Saratoga, New York, and 1813 in Massachusetts. Temperance was a movement dedicated to promoting moderation and complete abstinence in the use of intoxicating liquor. Although an abstinence pledge had been introduced by churches as early as 1800. The earliest European organizations were formed in Ireland; the movement began to make progress in 1829. Thereafter, the movement spread throughout Ireland and to Great Britain. I am convinced that the temperance movements were also a success because of these protests resulted in the eighteenth amendment which prohibited the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors..."   

The Seneca Falls Convention, held on July 19–20, 1848, was the first national convention of women seeking the right to vote in the United States. The convention was conceived and directed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. They had been excluded from taking part in a similar event in London in 1840. The convention passed 12 resolutions designed to gain certain rights and privileges that women of the era were denied. It requested women to construct and to petition for their rights. The ninth resolution demanded the right to vote; passed narrowly upon the insistence of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, it was the cornerstone of the woman suffrage movement. Overall, the Seneca Falls Convention was a success that led to the nineteenth amendment which guarantees American women the right to vote. 

Because reformers such as Horace Mann began to push education reform around 1840, the first coordinated school systems were established. They reasoned that it would build a stable or civic society, as well as a common tie between individuals. Horace Mann believed that education would benefit children and society as a whole. The Common School Movement was born out of the demand for educational reform. These "common schools" established a level playing field for all students, allowing the lower classes to compete with the upper classes.