Period+7+-+Insitutional+Reform

= Antebellum Institutional Reforms (1820 - 1860)  media type="custom" key="7563865" align="center"

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Summary of the Movement:
Many reforms took place during the antebellum period. The reforms that took place were put in place to improve the American society. The three reforms that took place during this period were education reforms, prison reforms and asylum reforms. The goals of the education reform were to expose students to social stability and equal opportunity. Reformers wanted to make sure that the kids were educated because they were the future of the American society. The goals of the prison reforms were to remove all of the insane or mentally unstable inmates and put them into and asylum. The goal of the asylum movement was to create separate hospitals for the mentally ill. Some important people in these reforms were Horace Mann, Dorothea Dix, Catherine Beecher, Catherine Beecher, and Emma Willard.


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**Causes for the Movements:**
 * Education for people were extremely limited.
 * There weren't many schools established.
 * Americans believed that in order to keep a well run democracy, the children needed to be educated early.
 * Having educated citizens will improve our industrial society and working class.
 * Mentally ill people didn't have special attention.
 * People were in jail for different reasons and needed to be seperated.
 * Prisons were crowded and in poor condition.

Goal of the Movement:
Ultimately, the goal of the institutional reforms were to improve American society. The educational reforms,the prison reforms, and the asylum movement all are efforts toward making America's future more successful. Each wanted to emphasize the belief in the "innate capacity of every person and f society's obligation to tap that capacity" (Brinkley 330). Reformers believed that these new environments would train them to lead more productive lives.
 * **Education Reform Goals:** The goal of reforming education was to expose students to social stability and equal opportunity. Reformers wanted to make sure that the future of America's democracy was educated because and educated electorate is crucial for a well run political system. The educational reforms were aimed at expanding a more organized public school system. By building new schools and enhancing the academics, reformers were able to create more opportunities for new groups of children to receive an education. It was their hope that by providing a structured environment for these children, they would not be drawn to criminality as they got older and would become useful citizens.
 * ** Asylum Movement/Prison Reform Goals: **The main goals of the prison reforms were to get all of the people who are mentally unstable and insane out of prisons and into separate buildings or asylums. They did not fit in at prison and needed another place to be held. The ultimate goal of the asylum movement was to create separate hospitals for the mentally ill. Reformers, such as Dorothea Dix, wanted to remove the mentally ill from prisons and move them to a place where they can begin to be cured. Dix and her followers wanted congress to pass an bill granting public land to states who were prepared to fund these hospitals, but it was vetoed by the president.

Strategies of Reformers:

 * Written Work - Reformers sent letters to the government in order to gain support.
 * Public Speeches - Reformers lectured fellow citizens about the importance of their ideas. They influenced people to support their ideas and in return they gained more followers.
 * Teachers' College - Reformers established this college to inform the teachers better. This allowed the teachers to provide a better education for students.

Key Events and Successes:
There were many successes of the reforms that took place during this time. Horace Mann, secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, campaigned for more and better schoolhouses, longer school terms, higher pay for teachers, and an expanded curriculum. Influence extended to other states, but public education was still very limited. Many colleges now offered a narrow curriculum of Latin, Greek, mathematics and moral philosophy. For prison reforms, criminal codes were softened, the number of capital offenses was reduced and brutal punishment was reduced. Also, Dorothea Dix campaigned for better treatment of the mentally ill in asylums. She eventually achieved her dream. Also led by Dorothea Dix, the Massachusetts reform movement succeeded and quickly spread to other states. By the beginning of the Civil War most states had established public mental institutions.
 * ==**//Education Reforms://**==
 * By 1860, most states in the North contained public schools at both the elementary and high school levels.
 * Educational opportunities for new groups of people, especially women, were increased during time of reform.
 * By the beginning of the Civil War, America had one of the highest literacy rates in the world. In the North 94% of the population was literate and in the South 58% of the population (83% of the white population) was literate.
 * Horace Man created new school facilities, longer terms, and enhanced the cirriculum for students.
 * The levels of schools were seperated into district schools, academies, and colleges.
 * Monitorial charity schools, Sunday schools, and infant schools were formed, which were able to help the poor.
 * ==//Prison Reforms and the Asylum Movement ://==
 * The number of capital offenses was reduced
 * The amount of abusive punishment was discouraged and ultimately reduced and new forms of rigid discipline was put in place.
 * Dorothea Dix was able to influence governmental policy for funding the mentally ill.
 * The reform movement was able to spread rapidly to other states.
 * The discipline of the prisons and asylums were seen as models for other facilities (i.e. factories and schools).
 * ==//Other Institutional Reforms://==
 * Orphanages designed around education provided children with an environment in which they would be trained to become useful citizens.
 * Institutions were created to provide a friendly environment for women who are without families or homes in which the women would be able to begin to build a new life.
 * Facilities for the poor were initiated called almshouses and workhouses. These were created in a supervised community so they can be trained to lead productive lives.
 * Institutions were created to help the handicapped discover their inner strength and wisdom. Known as the Benevolent Empire, this network of charitable institutions was able to inspire many.

Key Events and Failures:

 * ==//Education Reforms://==
 * The West and South did not have the strong public school systems as seen in the North.
 * Only one third of the white children of the South were actually enrolled in a school in 1860.
 * In the West, the population was so spread out that it was difficult for children to get to a school.
 * The whole black population of the South was banned from enrolling in schools.
 * In some areas, teachers were barely literate.
 * Funding in certain states was limited, restricting the opportunities for public school systems.
 * Many students did not take their education seriously, attending "classes briefly and casually" (Brinkley 330).
 * Although some reforms were being made, the majority of the Native American population remained uneducated by choice or circumstance.
 * ==//Prison Reforms and the Asylum Movements://==
 * President Franklin Pierce vetoed congresses bill to grant public land for states to fund hospitals for the mentally and physically impaired.
 * Many prisons evuentually deteriorated into criminal warehouses.
 * The effort for rehabilitation was soon lost before the Civil War.
 * The prisons and asylums soon became overcrowded, contradicting the original reforms.
 * ==//Other Institutional Reforms://==
 * Many institutions such as the orphanages, handicapped, and the facilities for the poor degenerated as the Civil War broke out.
 * Not all of the states included these helpful facilities.

** ﻿The Evolution of Mental Health Administrationand Treatment in Antebellum Lousiana **
As we look to the past, we can clearly see that we have began the trend of assylums, nationally, and internationaly. Overpopulatin and desiese greatly effected our view of asylums, so that, in our mind, it's "a positive good". Many buildings were erected during this trend ie. work houses, penitentiaries, and orphanages. Many administrations switched to theraputic care, rather than the trendy "custodial". [] ** Important People ** In March of 1841 Dix abandoned her successful career as a teacher and visited the East Cambridge Jail where she witnessed criminals of all types, debtors, mentally ill, and senile paupers, were all crowded together in prisons and jails. She saw the terrible living conditions for these people and decided to take a stand. From that moment on, Dorthea Dix lead the national movement to create new methods of treating the mentally ill. She was also a Massachusetts schoolteacher who campaigned for publicly funded asylums to help the mentally ill. She knew that improving their living conditions would demonstrate that mental illness was not incurable. Dorthea Dix was responsible for founding 32 mental hospitals, 15 schools for those with learning disabilities, a school for the blind, and many training facilities for nurses. Dix's efforts were very successful and "an indirect inspiration for the building of many additional institutions for the mentally ill" (Bumb 4).
 * ===Dorothea Dix:===



Mann was the greatest of all the education reformers of the antebellum period. As the first secretary of Massachusetts' Board of Education, Mann was able to improve the school systems. To him, education was one of the most important aspects of life. It helps create a sence of equality between men and allows American democracy to hope for a bright, strong future. Through his efforts, Mann was able to "rebuild the Massachusetts' education systems from the ground up" (Phelps 1). Mann reorganized the system by lengthening the academic school year, doubling teachers' salaries, enriching the curriculum, creating professional training for teachers, discouraging abuse in the schools, and more. Educators throughout the country saw Mann's extraordinary efforts as inspiration for their own.
 * ===Horace Mann:===



Beecher was known for encouraging women to enter into the teaching proffession. She knew that the women would fit the teaching role well because they are used to caring for children. Beecher inspired many women to become teachers.
 * **Catharine Beecher:**

Mary Lyon founded the first woman's college known as Mount Holyoke Seminary. It set high standards and gave woman a chance to gain equailty in education. Emma Willard opened a school in her house after husband passed away. It gave woman the chance to learn material that was denied to them in other places. It taught many female teachers over the generations including many female reformers and woman's rights activists.
 * **Mary Lyon:**
 * **Emma Willard:**

Primary source documents:
This website talks about Dorthea's observations of the asylums and jails. She writes to the legislature expressing the horrible conditions cells are in and how people are being treated badly. She further tells how people are being mistreated. This website has Horace talking about his views on democracy according to education. He explains why people should have an education and that to further mankind education is necessary. He also talks about the neccessities of life and what man should have. This website talks about differenet female schools. In the letter from Beecher to Lyon, she is trying to convince her to come and teacher amongst the other females. Beecher is always trying to convince other females to teach.
 * [|Dorthea Dix's]excerpt of a report to the legislature...Dorthea Dix, 1843
 * [|Horace Mann]on Education and National Welfare...Horace Mann, 1848
 * [|Catharine Beecher's]letter to Mary Lyon...Catherine Beecer, July 10, 1828

Works Cited:
Brinkley, Alan. "Remaking Society." //American History: A Survey//. Boston, Ma: McGraw Hill, 2003. 326-341. Print.

Bumb, Jenn. "Dorothea Dix." //Women's Intellectual Contributions to the Study of// //Mind and Society//. Webster University, 2009. Web. 17 Nov. 2009. .

James, E. T., J. W. James, and P. S. Boyer. "Emma Hart Willard." //Sunshine for// //Women//. WHM, 2001. Web. 17 Nov. 2009. .

Levin, Claudia, prod. "Catharine Beecher." //Only a Teacher//. PBS, 2009. Web. 17 Nov. 2009. .

Lopez, Gary, dir. "US History Social Reforms and Humanitarian Reforms." //HippoCampus//. Monterey Institute for Technology and Education, 2009. Web. 17 Nov. 2009. .

Newman, Steven L. "Catherine Beecher." //The Beecher Tradition//. Baruch College, 2009. Web. 17 Nov. 2009. .

Phelps, Shirelle, and Jeffrey Lehman. "Man, Horace." //Gale Virtual Reference// //Library//. __West's Encyclopedia of American Law__. Gale, 2005. Web. 10 Nov. 2009. 