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American Reform Movements

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American Reform Movements
American Reform Movements From 1790 to 1860 reforms emerged in the United States in attempt to create a more advanced society. Many of the movements that were attempted failed due to either entrenched social conservatism or weaknesses in the movements themselves. New religions started to emerge based on Christianity, but shaped to their preferences. Along with new religions were Utopias that were part of cooperative, communistic, or “communitarian” nature. The temperance movement started to rise in 1826 and societies tried to ban liquor. The liquor caused a decrease in the efficiency of labor because most men drank. Women gathered together to gain themselves more rights and delete the “cult of domesticity” out of men’s minds. American reform movements of the early nineteenth century had many successes and failures under the subjects of new religious groups along with utopias, temperance, and women’s rights. Since the First Great Awakening, church attendance was still a regular thing for Americans. In 1794 Thomas Paine wrote The Age of Reasoning which promoted Deism. Deists didn’t think Jesus was divine, and Deism let to Unitarian faith. They believed God was present in only one person. Christians hated the new faiths. All of these new religions led to the Second Great Awakening, which resulted in prison reform, church reform, temperance movement, women’s rights movement, and the abolition of slavery in 1830. The East spread religion to the West to Christianize Indians. The Second Great Awakening was a success. Other religions that appeared were Methodists and Mormons. Methodists are similar to Christians. Mormons were very united and they created the Book of Mormons and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The new religions were a success in my opinion because some of them still exist today. Utopias were also formed around this time. Three Utopias that were formed were in New Harmony, Indiana, Brooke Farms, Massachusetts, and

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