Reform movements in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals free essay sample

The validity of the statement, â€Å"Reform movements in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals† can be assessed regarding many reformations in the time period of 1825-1850 including the American temperance movement, the women’s rights movement, and the abolitionist reform. All of which very much expanded core democratic ideology, such as equality, liberty for all, and the pursuit of happiness. All these reforms share the qualities necessary to attempt to make the United States a more civilized, utopian society. Social reform was a necessity when it came to expanding democratic ideals. First reform in this time period was the American temperance movement. This was crucial because it was the first organized group to deal with alcohols impact on society and actually focused on the personal health and safety of American citizens. This was not the grandest of America’s issues though; in the early 1800s women had no rights outside of their household. We will write a custom essay sample on Reform movements in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Women could not vote, they could not own property, all they were good for was tending to house work as the men worked. This is often looked at with the transcendentalist movement of the 1830s, as they both revamp early family life and loosen the strict standards for women. In the 1800s slavery was a huge debate that divided our nation into pro-slavery and abolitionists. Many problems arose from this. The American temperance society not only benefited from, but also contributed to the reform sentiment promoting abolition of slavery, expanding women’s rights, temperance, and the improvement of society. The argument against alcoholism was that it was most closely associated with many negative factors such as domestic violence, family neglect, and chronic unemployment. Document H is a political drawing from the library of congress meant to emphasize the negative effect that will weigh down the nations laborers. The line at the bottom â€Å"The drunkards progress/ from the first glass to the grave† is obviously a reflection of negative feelings toward alcohol. This movement was based on the desire to create a productive and civilized society that could contribute more efficiently to the image of what a democratic family should be like. In 1851, a law was passed which banned alcohol. In a sense, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a â€Å"ringleader† of the reformation of women’s rights. Most famously knows for speaking out about women’s rights at the Seneca Falls Declaration on August 2, 1848 (Document I). Stanton’s idea was that, if the constitution states that equality is a democratic ideal then the nation is subjected to abide by that. Document I portrays that it is a puzzling, but true fact that women at the time still had not yet received nation-wide suffrage (the right to vote. ) men had the right to imprison their wife, but a woman was not allowed in a voting booth. The women’s rights movement definitely supports the statement that reforms from 1825-1850 sought to expand democratic ideals. The abolitionist movement was one that took many years and excessive efforts to get slavery out of the union, without tearing it apart. Abolitionists dealt with strong opponents for many years of their early moral campaign, mostly coming from the south. Among these famous reformers was Frederick Douglass, a well-educated freed slave, and William Lloyd Garrison, a very radical abolitionist who converted many people to abolitionism. Document C displays a slave pleading â€Å"am I not a woman and sister? † which was a strong example of the battle for equality the black and white races. Abolitionists knew and argued that we could not preach liberty and justice, when half of our nation is committing to the opposite. The reformation adds much validity to the notion that reformers sought to expand such democratic ideals in this time period. There are the minority that argues that not all reform movements in the United States necessarily sought to expand democratic ideals, and they supported it with the naturalization act they argued that the naturalization act did not seek to expand democratic ideals in any way. Led by Samuel Morse of the Know-Nothing Party, the reformation made it so that any foreigner who came into the United States after changes to the law would not be allowed the right of suffrage, as shown in document D this contracted some core democratic ideals instead of expanding it. The idea most largely contradicted was liberty, being that liberty was not fully instated without full political freedom. The statement â€Å"Reform movements in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals† is proven valid in context to every reform in the time period 1825-1850 except the naturalization act, The only movement in that period contradicting democratic ideals. Besides this act, every other act displayed grand interest in civilizing the United States and emphasizing equality and liberty for all, the core democratic ideals. The nation eventually picked up and expanded all of these, but only after the effect of these reforms took their toll on each individual state.