Question

The new democratic age of the 1820s, ’30s, and ’40s not only witnessed the advent of universal white male suffrage but also a strong impulse for social reform, which was often supported by those denied access to the ballot. What drove the impulse behind the reform in general and with particular movements like abolitionism, feminism, temperance, and institution building?

Answer 1

In early 1800s, the position of women was legally lower to that of men, not giving them the right to vote or to inherit property. The 1820s and 1830s saw a great rise in popular politics, as free white males achieved universal suffrage. Women, blacks, and Native Americans, however, remained excluded from the political process and were often neglected by politicians. In protest, these marginalized groups and their sympathizers organized reform movements to heighten public awareness and to influence social and political policy. Many reformers believed that they were doing God’s work, and the Second Great Awakening did much to encourage them in their missions. It is usually said that revolutions occur out of joint outrage and so although past abolitionists had suggested blacks be shipped back to Africa, Garrison worked in conjunction with prominent black abolitionists, including Fredrick Douglass, to demand equal civil rights for blacks. Effort by pioneers such as in this case, led to social reform and its manifestations in different ways. The production and consumption of alcohol in the United States rose markedly in the early 1800s. The temperance movement emerged as a backlash against the rising popularity of drinking. Founded in 1826, the American Temperance Society advocated total abstinence from alcohol. Many advocates saw drinking as an immoral and irreligious practice that caused poverty or mental instability. Others saw it as a male indulgence that harmed women and children who often suffered abuse at drunkards’ hands. During the 1830s, an increasing number of workingmen joined the movement in concern over the ill effects of alcohol on job performance. This meant that due to the new understanding that emerged in minorities on issues of importance such as these, questioning of existing knowledge was carried out that finally led to reform.

It is also said that in order to keep the evolution going, it is important that we as human race must never lose the ability to question. This is mostly because norms, rules, regulations, protocols and perspectives are nothing but our own creation, and therefore to question these with the change of time and era is indespensable for the betterment of humankind. Therefore, it can be said that due to the courage and conviction of some pioneers as well as their relentless & channelized efforts in these chosen directions, it was possible to bring about change & instil reforms in the existent policies at the time.