Social Reform 1825-1850

Between the years of 1825-1850, the United States went through the period known as the Age of Jackson. Although President Jackson only served eight years, he influenced great amounts of reform to happen. Across the country, political and social reform movements were prevalent. During the years of 1825-1850 many reforms were put into action, although some not immediately acted upon, they all had the underlying theme of expanding democratic ideals. The category of education saw many reforms during this period. The growing United States began to place an emphasis on the idea of educating all children instead of only the rich and elite. One of the many reformers was William H. McGuffey who published the book Reader. In document e, it states “The poor, if they are but good, may be very happy..”. McGuffey’s novel allowed poor children to learn reading, grammar, and morals without the need to pay for an expensive education. It also displays that the poor child has no idle time, emphasizes hard work, and puts family responsibilities first. Also, more and more schoolhouses began to appear providing the opportunity for children to be educated for free. This increased opportunity for
In 1835, Patrick Reason created an engraving of a black slave woman quoting “Am I not a woman and a sister?” (document c). This engravement depict women as victims of slavery alongside men and indicates the brutality of slavery. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a reformer in the arch of women’s rights stated “we are assembled to protest against a form of government..to declare our right to be free as man is free”(document i). In her speech Stanton makes the point that women should have the right to be represented in making laws. Although these issues remained in America for decades to follow, these issues were brought to light in order to equate all people living in America regardless of color or