Influential American Reformers

Why This Matters

Reform movements are central to understanding how American society has evolved—and they're heavily tested on the AP US History exam. You're not just being asked to identify who did what; you're being tested on how reform movements connected to broader historical developments like the Market Revolution, the Second Great Awakening, sectional tensions over slavery, industrialization, and the expansion of democratic ideals. Each reformer on this list represents a specific approach to social change, whether through moral suasion, political organizing, direct action, or institutional reform.

The College Board wants you to understand the causes and effects of reform movements and how they reflected tensions in American society—between liberty and equality, federal and state power, gradual and immediate change. Don't just memorize names and dates. Know what type of reform each person championed, what methods they used, and how their work connected to the larger currents of their era: Transcendentalism, evangelical perfectionism, Progressive Era efficiency, or Cold War-era activism. That's what turns a 3 into a 5.

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Antebellum Reform and the Second Great Awakening

The reform impulse of the 1830s–1850s grew directly from the religious revivals of the Second Great Awakening, which taught that individuals could achieve salvation through moral improvement—and that society itself could be perfected. This evangelical perfectionism fueled movements for temperance, education, mental health reform, and abolition.

Horace Mann

• "Father of the American Public School System"—championed universal public education as essential to democracy and social mobility
• Teacher training and standardized curricula—established the first state-funded normal schools to professionalize teaching
• Education as a social equalizer—argued that common schools would reduce class divisions and create informed citizens, reflecting Jacksonian-era democratic ideals

Dorothea Dix

• Mental health reform pioneer—investigated and exposed the horrific treatment of the mentally ill in prisons and almshouses
• Institutional solutions—lobbied state legislatures to establish over 30 mental hospitals with humane treatment standards
• Moral reform through government action—her work exemplified the antebellum belief that state intervention could perfect society

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The Abolitionist Movement

Abolitionists represented the most radical reform impulse of the antebellum era, directly challenging the institution of slavery and the constitutional compromises that protected it. Their tactics ranged from moral suasion and publishing to direct action on the Underground Railroad.

William Lloyd Garrison

• Immediate emancipation without compensation—rejected gradual abolition and colonization schemes as morally bankrupt compromises
• Editor of The Liberator (1831–1865)—his uncompromising rhetoric ("I will not retreat a single inch—AND I WILL BE HEARD") galvanized Northern abolitionists
• Moral suasion over political action—co-founded the American Anti-Slavery Society but opposed voting and the Constitution, which he called "a covenant with death"

Frederick Douglass

• Escaped enslaved person turned leading abolitionist orator—his firsthand testimony made slavery's brutality undeniable to Northern audiences
• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (1845)—his autobiography became a powerful weapon against pro-slavery arguments about enslaved people's humanity
• Broke with Garrison over political engagement—came to support the Constitution as an anti-slavery document and advocated for Black military service during the Civil War

Harriet Tubman

• "Moses of her people"—made approximately 13 trips on the Underground Railroad, personally guiding roughly 70 enslaved people to freedom
• Direct action over moral suasion—represented the activist wing of abolition that prioritized immediate rescue over changing public opinion
• Multifaceted activism—served as a Union spy, nurse, and scout during the Civil War; later advocated for women's suffrage

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Women's Rights and Suffrage

The women's rights movement emerged directly from abolitionism, as female reformers recognized parallels between their own legal status and that of enslaved people. The 1848 Seneca Falls Convention marked the formal beginning of organized feminism in America.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

• Co-organizer of the Seneca Falls Convention (1848)—the first women's rights convention, held in upstate New York during the height of antebellum reform
• Author of the Declaration of Sentiments—modeled on the Declaration of Independence, it declared "all men and women are created equal" and listed grievances including denial of the vote
• Broad vision of women's rights—advocated not just for suffrage but for divorce reform, property rights, and educational access

Susan B. Anthony

• Master organizer and strategist—co-founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) with Stanton and built the movement's infrastructure
• Direct action tactics—famously voted illegally in 1872 and was arrested, using her trial to publicize the cause
• Single-minded focus on suffrage—unlike Stanton, prioritized the vote above other reforms, believing it would unlock all other rights

Alice Paul

• Militant suffragist tactics—organized the 1913 Women's March on Washington and led pickets outside the White House during WWI
• Founded the National Woman's Party (1916)—broke from mainstream suffragists to pursue more aggressive protest strategies, including hunger strikes
• Architect of the 19th Amendment's passage (1920)—her confrontational approach, combined with wartime service by women, finally secured the vote

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Progressive Era Reform

The Progressive Era (1890s–1920s) responded to the social dislocations of industrialization, urbanization, and immigration. Progressives used investigation, publicity, and government regulation to address problems that voluntary reform couldn't solve.

Jacob Riis

• How the Other Half Lives (1890)—his photographs and reporting exposed the squalor of New York City tenements to middle-class readers
• Muckraking journalism—pioneered the use of visual evidence to shock the public conscience and demand reform
• Housing reform advocate—his work contributed to New York's Tenement House Act of 1901, establishing minimum standards for light, air, and sanitation

Upton Sinclair

• The Jungle (1906)—intended to expose the exploitation of immigrant workers but instead sparked outrage over unsanitary meatpacking conditions
• Unintended consequences—led directly to the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act of 1906
• Socialist reformer—represented the Progressive Era's left wing, arguing that capitalism itself was the problem (though his readers focused on their stomachs, not his politics)

Jane Addams

• Founder of Hull House (1889)—the most famous American settlement house, providing social services, education, and community space for Chicago immigrants
• Social work pioneer—professionalized charitable work and advocated for labor laws, juvenile courts, and immigrant rights
• Nobel Peace Prize (1931)—recognized for her international peace activism; represents the Progressive belief that reform could extend beyond national borders

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Civil Rights and Racial Justice

The struggle for African American rights spans the entire course, but the key exam focus is on competing strategies—accommodation vs. agitation—and how the movement evolved from Reconstruction through the modern Civil Rights era.

Ida B. Wells

• Anti-lynching crusader—used investigative journalism to document and publicize the epidemic of racial terror in the South
• Southern Horrors (1892) and A Red Record (1895)—her pamphlets challenged the myth that lynching punished Black criminality, revealing it as a tool of racial and economic control
• Intersectional activism—co-founded the NAACP and advocated for women's suffrage, though she clashed with white suffragists over racism in the movement

Booker T. Washington

• Founder of the Tuskegee Institute (1881)—emphasized vocational education and economic self-reliance for African Americans
• "Atlanta Compromise" (1895)—his speech accepted temporary social segregation in exchange for economic opportunity, urging Black Southerners to "cast down your bucket where you are"
• Accommodationist strategy—sought white support by downplaying political rights; critics called this approach too deferential to Jim Crow

W.E.B. Du Bois

• Co-founder of the NAACP (1909)—demanded immediate civil and political rights, rejecting Washington's gradualism
• The Souls of Black Folk (1903)—challenged Washington directly, arguing that the "Talented Tenth" of educated African Americans must lead the race toward full equality
• Political activism over economic accommodation—insisted that the vote and higher education, not just vocational training, were essential to Black advancement

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The Modern Civil Rights Movement

The post-WWII Civil Rights Movement built on earlier activism but employed new tactics—nonviolent direct action, mass mobilization, and media strategy—to challenge legal segregation and win federal intervention.

Martin Luther King Jr.

• Leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)—organized nonviolent protests including the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–56) and Birmingham Campaign (1963)
• "I Have a Dream" speech (1963)—delivered at the March on Washington, it articulated the movement's vision of racial equality and became an iconic moment in American history
• Nobel Peace Prize (1964)—recognized for his commitment to nonviolent resistance; his assassination in 1968 sparked riots nationwide and accelerated passage of the Fair Housing Act

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Quick Reference Table

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Self-Check Questions

1. Which two antebellum reformers best illustrate the connection between the Second Great Awakening and institutional reform? What method did they share?

2. Compare the abolitionist strategies of William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass. Why did they eventually split, and what does their disagreement reveal about tensions within reform movements?

3. How did the women's rights movement emerge from abolitionism? Identify at least two reformers who participated in both movements.

4. Explain the Washington-Du Bois debate. If an FRQ asked you to evaluate which approach was more effective in the Jim Crow era, what evidence would you use for each side?

5. What continuities and changes can you identify in reform tactics from the antebellum era through the Progressive Era? Use at least three specific reformers to support your answer.