reformingamerica

Reforming America In the middle of the 1800s, many bad things were going on in the United States. Two important things happened, though, that made people want to change our country and make it better. First, there was a Second Great Awakening. Just like the first Great Awakening, people all over country gathered at religious meetings, listened to preachers, and got more serious about religion. Many of these preachers during the Second Great Awakening told people that they needed to do good by helping others. People took this advice to heart and began to find ways to help others have a better life. The second thing was the newspapers. Newspaper printers found a way to print newspapers at a low cost. The new newspapers, called "penny papers," were affordable to even average Americans. Americans started buying a lot of newspapers and information traveled quickly. People learned of things going on in the U.S. that they didn't like, and they decided to do something about it.

Today, you will read stories from five of these people who decided to make our country a better place. Read their stories by clicking on the links below and answer the questions in the chart. As you are doing this, start thinking about something that you believe could make our country a better place to live.

Frederick Douglass - Slavery

Harriet Tubman - Slavery

Elizabeth Cady Stanton - Women's Rights

Horace Mann - Public Education

Mary C. Vaughan - Temperance