Spirit of reform

1. TOPIC: The Spirit of Reform
EQ: What were some early reforms/reasons for
those reforms?
* Many reformers met in churches to start reforms
*Many religious reforms were happening, making people
believe that they could be forgiven for sins.
*There was an overall optimistic feeling within society.

2. In New England, a man named Ralph Waldo
Emerson created a movement called
transcendentalism.
This is the belief that humans have
unlimited potential to go beyond logical
thinking!
People CAN find answers to life’s
questions by listening to their
emotions/intuition

3. Transcendentalists believe:
No one should conform to
expectations of others.
If you want to find God, look to
nature and the “God within”

4. Emerson’s friend Henry David
Thoreau
He wrote an incredible essay in
which he said, “If a man does not
keep pace with his companions,
perhaps it is because he hears a
different drummer. Let him step to
the music which he hears.”
In your notes, write what you believe
this could mean….

6. Your Turn To Note Take
Independently…
Remember to make your notes concise
Ask questions in the margins to help you process
information

7. Prison Reform- 1841 Dorothea Dix
Throughout her life, Dorothea Lynde Dix
(1802–1887) worked in many different
occupations to improve the lives of the
less fortunate.
At only fifteen years old, Dorothea began
a small school for girls, who were not
welcome in public schools at the time.
Dix continued to teach for many years,
until a troubling experience in a
Massachusetts jail influenced her to take
up a new cause.

8. What did she do?
She taught in a jail, and was horrified by what
prisoners were subjected to!
EX: Bound in chains, locked in cages , kids and
adults jailed together for different crimes!
Dix visited other prisons throughout the state and
successfully petitioned for improvements. She then
traveled throughout the US and parts of Europe
evaluating prisons and mental hospitals and
She was shocked that people owing money (in
debt) ended up in prison.

9. She strongly believed:
The mentally ill needed treatment instead of
punishment
Massachusetts only had one asylum for people to go,
and only wealthy people could afford to send loved
ones there.
Her petitions led to change. In 1887, state gov’t no
longer put people in debt in jail.
Most states had special centers for children in
trouble.
Cruel punishment /torture was outlawed.