Voices of Reform: Abolitionist Movement, The
The first major abolitionist voice in the United States is William Lloyd Garrison who begins publishing The Liberator in 1831. He gathers around him a society of men and women, white and black, who advocate the immediate..
Voices of Reform: Political Dimensions of Anti-Slavery Movement
The moral argument against slavery weakens as it becomes more political, primarily because most Northerners do not want to destroy the Union. The most ardent abolitionist support is found in the Northeast among legislato..
Voices of Reform: Romanticism and the Transcendentalist Movement
America in the mid-19th century is caught in a whirlwind of change. The country's expansion and growth excite artists and writers caught up in the spirit of romanticism, a cultural and artistic movement that immigrated f..
Voices of Reform: Temperance Movement, The
One of the most influential reform movements of the era is the crusade against drunkenness. Among the working class, people sign pledges not to drink alcohol. Some social elites push temperance as a kind of social contro..
Voices of Reform: Utopian Communities
Several utopian communities emerge in the 1840s organized by reformers in response to slavery and the capitalistic economic system that is becoming a dominant force in the United States. Some of these communities like th..
Voices of Reform: Women's Efforts to Gain Equal Rights
The response to early feminist efforts ranges from silence to outrage. Some working-class and African American women express skepticism that this movement has anything to do with them. There are prominent exceptions like..
Voices of Reform: Women's Role in the Abolitionist Movement
Violating conventional mores, women in the North take the abolitionists' cause to their neighborhoods, asking people to join them in signing anti-slavery petitions. Because of slavery's impact on family life and personal..
War of 1812, The
Historian Peter Onuf talks about the War of 1812, which he says the United States "...had to fight without the benefit of a national bank (and) without the institutions that were absolutely necessary to mobilize resource..
Warrior to Priest...Presidents of the Early 1900s: Accidental President, The
Theodore Roosevelt becomes the youngest man to assume the presidency when William McKinley is assassinated in 1901. Although in journalistic histories he is often portrayed as an impulsive, immature figure, Roosevelt is ..
Warrior to Priest...Presidents of the Early 1900s: Federal Government as Mediator of the Public Good
Roosevelt does not consider the federal government the agent of any particular interest, only public interest. During his presidency, he argues for public accountability of corporations and files more than 40 antitrust s..