Hello you crazy kids you might recall from the last video lecture that one of the main points I tried to make was that the Election of Andrew Jackson signaled what historians called an age of democracy? What they meant by that is that more people in America were now voting in a major effect of that Was that more Americans were also getting involved in trying to shape and reform American society one of the great aspects of living in a democracy is that the people have an opportunity and even a responsibility to not just complain about the problems throughout the country but to actually work in order to change them as A result reform movements began to gain momentum during this period of Antebellum history We begin with the issue of slavery opponents of slavery were called abolitionists Resistance to slavery took many forms including opposition from slaves themselves Some slaves subtly protested by sabotaging machinery or engaging in work slowdowns Some even risk the danger of running away Sometimes their protests were not quite so subtle during the early 19th century There were a number of well-known slave uprisings throughout the south The most well-known was the 1831 revolt led by a slave named Nat Turner Nat Turner led a group of around 80 slaves and carried out a revolt which resulted in the deaths of 50 white people Turner was eventually captured and along with sixteen of his followers executed Most abolitionists were located in the north Harriet Tubman A former slave herself famously led the Underground Railroad a network of safe houses that helped an estimated 100,000 slaves escape north it is believed that Tubman personally helped over 300 of them One slave who escaped was a self-educated slave named Frederick Douglass who escaped slavery from Maryland? He advanced the abolitionist cause by publishing an influential abolitionist newspaper called the North Star Douglass also published his famous Autobiography in which he recounted his brutal existence as a slave Another abolitionist newspaper was the Liberator published by William Lloyd Garrison the abolition movement brought the attention of the nation to the issue of slavery which would reach a fever pitch in the decade of the 1850s Many women were involved in the abolition movement Their experiences and the movement encouraged many women to advocate for their own rights as well and this brings us to the women's suffrage movement of the 19th century not to be confused with the women's rights movement of the 1960s and 70s During the 19th century. Most women in America did not enjoy the full rights of citizenship in most cases They had no property rights at least once they were married many educational opportunities were closed to them and most states did not allow women any voting rights in 1848 300 women's rights activists notable among them were Elizabeth Cady Stanton Susan B. Anthony and Lucretia Mott just to name a few attended the Seneca Falls convention During the convention Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B Anthony were the main authors of the Declaration of sentiments a frank and honest statement about the status of women in America The Declaration of Sentiments was patterned after the Declaration of Independence in that it was a statement of grievances it began with the words We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men and women are created equal The Seneca Falls Convention did not result in immediate legislation addressing women's issues But it was the first major step in giving shape and organization to the long struggle for women's equality Which achieved a major milestone 70 years later when the 19th amendment? Guaranteeing women the right to vote was ratified in 1920 Before we leave today. I must at least mention two other reformers and Antebellum America Dorothea Dix witnessed firsthand the horrendous treatment that people with mental illness received in the nation's prisons and asylums testifying in front of the Massachusetts state legislature Dix recounted how she witnessed patients chained to walls neglected and often beaten she convinced Massachusetts to set aside funds for Establishing and regulating mental hospitals. She went on to do the same for many other states Finally, we need to acknowledge the hard work of Horace Mann in many ways. He is the reason we are in school today Throughout the 19th century the public education system as we know it today did not exist Local communities often provided funds for some type of schooling but it rarely went beyond the primary grade levels after That the only children who attended school were from wealthier or middle-class families Horace Mann Recognizing that an educated literate society was necessary for a healthy and vibrant Democracy advocated for the establishment of a rigorous system a publicly funded education that was open to all children Mann successfully convinced many states to provide tax funded public education and To pass compulsory or mandatory attendance laws and extend the school year to six-month He also helped establish teacher training schools and reform curriculums across the country in Closing I'd like to bring this back to the spirit of democracy that Andrew Jackson with his faults symbolized during this era there is a reaffirmation of the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and the role that every one even average citizens can play in shaping their communities in a democratic society You