Reform Impulse
Today many people speak about the pace and revolutionary speed of life. Itappears that this has to be the time of greatest change in Americanhistory. Those who lived in the United States during the mid-1800s may havethought differently. When Alexis de Tocqueville visited the U.S. in 1831,he was amazed not only by the nation's fast pulse but also by the reactionof the citizens to this tremendous growth. Americans were surely on themove, but not everyone agreed on the direction. Many were worried aboutterritorial expansion, increasing population and expanding diversity thatwas causing increasing animosity and selfishness that individualism brings.These concerns initiated the reform tradition or reform impulse as it is Individuals from a wide range of backgrounds and interests hadvarious reasons for wanting reform or changing the direction they saw thecountry moving. Humanitarian or secular organizations hoped to reduce the
In the early 1900s, writers and journalists such as Mark Twain joinedin the reform impulse by using their words to alter public opinion. Per capita alcohol consumption in the UnitedStates has never gone back to pre-1820 levels. Much of this change proved more or less permanent sincethe mid-nineteenth century. Temperance often headed the list of the moral reform enterprises,since drinking was such a critical part of American culture. Many of these utopian communitiessuch as the Shakers and the Mormons were based in religion. Temperance meetings were a somewhat serious affair, often featuringa lecturer who stressed the problems with drink. The utopian impulse has a holistic perspective,focusing on the reformation of society as a whole rather than the simplereform of specific social institutions. This was followed six years later by the-2-United States Temperance Union, which eventually adopted the teetotalpledge. Others,including the society at-3-New Harmony, were secular and socialist in their orientation. Called Washingtonian Societies, these popular associations focusedon getting drunkards rather than moderate nondrinkers to sign the pledge. In the 1840s, a working class temperance movementemerged. Frank Norris'The Pit revealed how secret manipulations affected the grain market inChicago. Theodore Dreiser in The Financier and TheTitan explained to laymen the complexities of big business.
Common topics in this essay:
,
Horace Mann,
Washingtonian Societies,
Reform Society,
Shakers Mormons,
Temperance Society,
Temperance Union,
Norris' Pit,
Mark Twain,
Upton Sinclair,
society american,
temperance society,
american temperance,
american temperance society,
alcohol consumption,
moral reform,
reform impulse,
|
Acceptance Essays
