69 thoughts on “Blog #125 – Antebellum Reformer Speed Dating”

1. Keegan Reed November 10, 2019 at 10:22 pm

   The person I researched for the speed dating activity was named Reverend Robert Finley. I learned that Finley was a teacher and a pastor for a big part of his life. The most important thing I learned about Finley was that he was an abolitionist and helped found the American Colonization Society. He wanted to send African Americans back to Africa because he thought that they couldn’t live equally with us and would be better off by themselves. He formed Liberia in West Africa as a place for these African Americans to go to after they were deported from America. If Finley existed in 2019 with his past judgment and opinion, I would disagree with his saying. Back then people thought we couldn’t live equally together but if you look where we are today we clearly can, even though there still are some legitimately racist people scattered out in the world.

   One reformer I met during the “speed dating” activity was William Lloyd Garrison that at FIRST agreed with Finley. Garrison was apart of the American Colonization Society and agreed with the society because he thought that they meant to promote blacks’ freedom and well being by sending them to West Africa. But he realized this wasn’t the case and they were just trying to minimize the number of free slaves in America. Garrison, at the beginning of his story with the American Colonization Society, agreed with Finley but soon realized the true goal of the American Colonization Society and decided to change his opinion on the American Colonization Society.

   Another reformer I met was named Theodore Weld. Weld fought to try and make African Americans all around America try to overcome this oppression by assuming responsibility for themselves. Weld would not agree with Finley because Finley is letting the free African Americans be taken into their care and sent to West Africa where then they can live for themselves in their own communities, for the most part. The reason I say for the most part is because at first Liberia was governed by white men from the American Colonization Society.
2. Brennen Vechazone November 10, 2019 at 10:37 pm

   When researching my reformer, Theodore Weld, I found out he was a huge abolitionist along with his wife, Angelina Grimké. Weld even started the American Anti-Slavery Society with his wife and William Lloyd Garrison. This was a society that had meetings and groupings to have local, state and national governments and auxiliaries to immediately abolish slavery for good. The society was founded back in 1833 and was ran under the leadership of William Lloyd Garrison and Theodore Weld helped out. With Weld wanting slavery to be gone forver and very soon, he was also considered an immediatist and with the hopes of his growing supportment of people to end slavery fast. Finally, Theodore Weld and Angelina Grimké wrote the book Slavery As Is, which explains how slavery is in the south told by thousands of witnesses and tells how the abolition movement is in the White New England. If Weld was running right now for office, I could definitely support him. THis is because of his huge amount of time and effort to completely abolish slavery and I think a lot of people would support him. In my opinion, I think I would try and be an abolitionist and helped abolish slavery if it was still around today.

   The reformer, Theodore Weld, would get along the best with William Lloyd Garrison because of the same appeals and ideas they shared together. The two of them I think would support each other’s goals a lot because they were both huge abolitionist and started the American Anti-Slavery society together to try and get rid of slavery in the Deep South and on plantations. Weld and Garrison also agreed to try and secede the North from the entire Union if the South wouldn’t comply and abolish slavery. With the book, Slavery As Is, both of them produced books and Garrison produced the editorial called, The Liberator. This meant both of them wanted to get their ideas out about slavery and abolition in the forms of literature.

   When interviewing with all of the different reformers, I don’t think I came across any that would cross my ideas about abolition. All the reformers I met and talked to had the same ideas as Weld along with basic human and women’s rights and freedom. All reformers had one thing in conclusion and it was supporting abolitionism in some form and ending slavery along with giving women more rights and having everyone be equal.
3. Erin Parker November 10, 2019 at 10:38 pm

   I learned that my reformer, Frances Ellen Harper was a huge advocate for education and was driven by a desire to teach and education the black community. In 1854, she delivered a public address on “Education and the Elevation of the Colored Race”. Her role as an educator transformed many lives. She held teaching positions at the African Methodist Episcopal Church near Columbus, Ohio and later taught in Little York Pennsylvania. Her teaching positions did not only extend through her lectures in the classroom, but also through her writing. Frances is most known for her poetry and her straightforward, almost blunt writing style. Her commendable, unique style awarded her popularity and revolutionary success. Not only was she an advocate for education, she was heavily involved in the anti-slavery movement, and began writing about the travesties of dehumanizing institution, giving lectures across the country. Her work as an abolitionist, suffragist, poet, teacher, public speaker, and writer highlights her courage and ambitious personality. If Frances existed in 2019, I would be a major supporter. I believe in everything she stood for, and as a woman of color, I knew it required a lot of strength. And I respect her then, and I would respect her if she was alive now. I believe Sojourner Truth relates most to Frances Harper. They both believed in the same things: women’s rights and abolition. She, like Harper, was famous for her speeches. Sojourner spoke at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention, with her most famous speech, “Ain’t I a Woman”. This speech detailed the women’s suffrage movement and the rights of blacks in America. Unlike Frances, she never learned to read or write, but used her voice as a weapon. After dictating her autobiography, “The Narrative of Sojourner Truth”, she began to gain public recognition. People traveled far because they wanted to come see the famous, Sojourner Truth, or the commendable Frances Ellen Harper because of how powerful their messages were. They both confidently spoke out against the moral wrongs in society. Their voices, their writings, their speeches resonated with people, and inspired others to continue fighting for equality and against injustice. Their courage, sacrifice, and dedication is why we remember them for who they are.
4. James Hailer November 10, 2019 at 11:19 pm

   The things I learned most about my reformer throughout researching him is some of the challenges he faced and he overcame. When solomon northup was in his 30’s and kidnapped to washington d.c. he became a slave and was not freed for 12 years. For solomon, this was devastating as it meant that he had to leave behind his wife and children without them having any knowledge of where he went. The fact that solomon experienced life for over 30 yeras before he was taken into slavery would have made it very hard for solomomn to have the courage to keep going forward with the hopes of someday being freed. I would support solomon today because he is a reformer who knows what it was like to be a slave.
   A reformer i believe would most agree with solomon northup is fredrick douglas. The reason that i believe they could relate to each other and agree on things is that they were both slaves before in their lifetime. Many people who would talk about ablolishing slavery were unlike douglas and northup in that theynever in their life were slaves. I think that this could help these two see similarities in each other and be able to agree on their opinions. Something else they can relate too is that both fredrick douglas and solomon northup escaped slavery. Iit took frederick multiple different times before he was successful unlike solomon who escaped easier but it was still very hard and should not be seen as an easy task.
   A reformer i believe would not support solomon northup’s goals would be lydia finney. Lydia finney was an activist for womens rights and was less focosed on the abloishment of slavery. Solomon northup issues did not really concern women’s rights at all and i believe that because of that lydia finney and solomon northup would not have gotten along. If I had to guess I would think that solomon would believe that it was crazy how people could have been more concerned about women’s rights in a time where slaves were being put to work every day and tortured. For those reasons I think lydia finney and solomon northup would not agree with each other
5. Taylor Hunter November 10, 2019 at 11:56 pm

   Throughout this extremely romantic speed dating experience, my reformer Lucretia Mott not only met other reformers, I learned more about Lucretia as a person. I learned she’s quite the fierce individual. I made sure that she came off as opened minded as humanly possible. I met 8 amazing people who I may not 100 percent agree with yet I shared similar points of view with them. If Lucretia was alive in 2019, I’d support her. She had a strong belief in women’s rights which is great because women deserve just as equal opportunities as a man does. I felt that their were a couple of reformers that I could my reformer could be cordial with. I think that Lucretia would work nicely with Henry David Thoreau, Sarah Grimke, and Sarah Josepha Hale. First Henry David Thoreau, I didn’t receive a specific opinion on Women’s Rights from him. Yet, we did have some points of strong agreement. Both Henry and Lucretia agreed on the Mexican War being a bad thing for the U.S. and on the strong hate for slavery. Thoreau expressed these thoughts on certain conflicts and experimented with his transcendentalist ideas through his writings. Although, Thoreau’s writings are more poetic than those of Lucretia, they both shared their thoughts and ideas with writing. Thoreau wrote Breakdown and Mott wrote Discourse on Women along with Lucy Stone. I second guessed the possible relationship between Grimke and Mott. Grimke was a rich woman whose family owned slaves. The owning of slaves was a deal breaker until she mentioned the fact that she disagreed with the owning of slaves and them not having proper access to education. Grimke mentions that she tried to educate the slaves that were owned by her family as much as possible. The people in her family found out and immediately told her to stop educating them. Grimke also enjoyed writing, she wrote books and decided to become a teacher for just a little over a decade. My final possible speed dating match would be Sarah Josepha Hale. Hale is a kind activist in the fight for women’s rights and equal education. Hale wrote a book called Northwood and created the hymn of Mary Had A Little Lamb. Although she was not the biggest fan of abolitionist, she was anti-slavery. Her husband David Hale passed away and after his death, as a widow she never stopped wearing black clothing. I think that Hale, Grimke, and Thoreau all have something in common. They’re not afraid to speak their minds and they share all of their beliefs and ideas minus the opinions of other people. Throughout the whole experience, I didn’t really communicate with someone who I wholeheartedly believed would not get along Lucretia. I think all eight of the people I encountered were great and all agreed with some of the points of view I shared with them. I think that the reformers I mentioned would work really well with Lucretia and we’d all work efficiently to fight for the common good that we all believed.
6. Courtney Little November 11, 2019 at 1:41 am

   While researching Solomon Northrup I learned that he was born a free black man in Minerva, New York. In 1841 he was hired by two men who claimed to work for a circus to join their act as a fiddler. These two men ended up kidnapping Solomon shipping him to New Orleans where he was then sold at a slave market under the name Platt Hamilton. He stuck as a slave for 12 years then legally regained his freedom in 1853 where he later wrote a book called Twelve Years a Slave. Solomon also helped out with the underground railroad, not too long after helping with the underground railroad Solomon disappeared. He was last seen somewhere in Canada. If Solomon Northrup was still alive today, I would support him because he was someone who believed loathed the existence of slavery and stived to make a difference somehow once his freedom was regained. He also freed many women of color during his day. The reformer Fredrick Douglas would support my reformer’s goals because, like Solomon, Fredrick is an abolitionist who believed in a nation free of all discrimination. Fredrick and Solomon both worked to make a difference for African American women. Fredrick worked to improve women’s rights. His greatest achievement was abolishing the harsh conditions of slavery. He was born into slavery and was he was treated horribly by his slave owner, much like Solomon except Solomon was born a free man. Fredrick pushed for human equality and equality until he died in 1859. These feeling were driven from the harsh treatment of their slave masters, that’s why I believe Douglass and Northrup would be good matches. The reformer John Humphrey Noyes was one of the reforms that would not support Solomon’s goals because he believed in perfectionism, which was basically the belief that someone could become free of sin in this life through will power and religious conversations. Humphery was also the creator of Onedia which was a town that believed in complex marriages, which essentially is a marriage where they can have intercourse with whoever that wanted with concent. Humphreys’s believes didn’t come close to any of Solomons’s beliefs.
7. Gillian Emerick November 11, 2019 at 5:55 am

   My reformer was the labor organizer Sarah Bagley. The things I learned most about her was that she organized a ton of different associations and organizations over the years she was working, and that her main goal was to make ten hours the maximum amount of labor that could be done in Massachusetts. She organized the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association while she was still working at a cotton mill in Massachusetts during the early 1800s. She then went on to establish the Female Labor Reform League in many cities located in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, as well as the Industrial Form Lyceum. Throughout all of her years working she still remained the president of the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association until she stopped working in 1848. If Sarah Bagley were alive today, she would definitely be a person I could support. She was a strong believer and activist for women’s rights, something I also strongly believe in.

   Of all the reformers that I met, the one that would meet Sarah Bagley’s goals the most would be William Lloyd Garrison. Like Sarah Bagley, Garrison was also a strong abolitionist and believed in women’s rights. However, Garrison mainly focused on the anti-slavey movement instead of the women’s rights movement, which is the opposite of what Bagley did. Garrison and Bagley had most likely met when they were still alive. Wiliam Lloyd Garrison also wrote many speeches. When Sarah Bagley organized the Industrial Form Lyceum, which gave people a chance to make speeches about topics such as women’s rights, abolitionism, and labor reforms, William Lloyd Garrison was an active participant and frequently made speeches there.

   Of all the reformers I had met none of them had goals that would go against the goals of Sarah Bagley. Instead of going against what she believed in, they would just have absolutely nothing in common. One of these reformers is Dr. Sylvester Graham, the inventor of the graham cracker . Graham was a large supporter of the temperance movement, something Bagley had never talked about. He was also a large supporter of healthy diets, and was a vegetarian.
8. Evan Meinel November 11, 2019 at 6:18 am

   My reformer that I got was David Walker. He was born on September 28th 1796 in Wilmington North Carolina. He father was a slave and his mother was not a slave. His mother was not a slave, meaning that he was not a slave himself. So David Walker went a got an education. Later on in life David Walker became a Boston agent for Freedom’s Journal. Freedom’s Journal is the first newspaper owned and operated by African-Americans. As an Agent for Freedom’s Journal David Walker shared his views through his speeches that David Walker gave. In the year 1829 David Walker wrote an Appeal called, “Walker’s Appeal, in Four Articles; Together with a Preamble, to the Coloured Citizens of the World, but in Particular, and Very Expressly, to Those of the United States of America”. This was his masterpiece, it was 70 pages of his heart and soul. It basically says that Africans-Americans have the full right to be a citizen of the United States of America and slavery is bad and why its bad. As well as slaves should violently revolt against their masters. I could get behind David Walker. I would support his ideas, the only thing i couldn’t get behind is the violence part. I don’t think many people nowadays would get behind his violent portion. Overall I would support most of David Walker’s ideas.
   The person that shared a lot of the same ideas was William Lloyd Garrison. William Lloyd Garrison was an abolitionist as well. David Walker and William Lloyd Garrison wanted the same thing. William Lloyd Garrison and David Walker wanted the end of slaver as soon as possible. The only thing William Lloyd Garrison and David Walker did not share was that William Lloyd Garrison didn’t want those violent end to slavery. William Lloyd Garrison and David Walker are a very good match.
   Brigham Young, Brigham Young is someone which David Walker would not like very much. Brigham Young actually like slavery. If you liked or didn’t oppose slavery, David walker did not like you at all. Brigham Young and David Walker did not share any of the same points of view. David Walker was also Christian, Brigham Young wasn’t a big fan of Christians. Brigham Young and David Walker are completely not a match.
9. Sara Smith November 11, 2019 at 7:00 am

   While researching topics on my reformer, Lyman Beecher, I came across his standpoints on different movements in his time period. Even though he was mostly about temperance, he also had strong viewpoints on slavery, and womens rights. For instance before researching Beecher, I knew he was some sort of a religious leader, but now that I have completed my research I now know that he was specifically a prebesterian minister, who also lead camp meetings. I also learned his stance on women’s rights. He didn’t think that women were capable of being full fledged citizens. This is shown through his intolerance for women preaching, I also thought this was funny because of how strong of leaders his daughters were. And before research I also did not know that he was for anti-slavery, even though his kin, more specifically Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote a whole book on the abolishionist standpoint called Uncle Tom’s Cabin. If Lyman Beecher existed in 2019, I wouldn’t support him because his beliefs don’t align with mine, no, i’m not talking about alcohol, im talking about his stances on women and slavery.

   Out of all of the reformers I met I wouldn’t really get along with anyone. I thought I would get along with Frances Ellen, but she is a Unitarian and I hate unitarianism, also she was black woman, so… . If I had to pick out of all the people I met I would say i would get along with Samuel Morse, he went to Yale just like me! He defends slavery and I think that is ok, afterall I dont think that they could be a part of our society, they arent as superior. And he created the telegraph, do you know what this means for temperance? This means we can spread our message faster and farther.

   I couldn’t stand Sarah Grimke! She was such an entitled brat, how dare a woman try and be something else other than a wife and a mother, I quite frankly think she needs to return to the kitchen. She is an abolitionist and an advocate for women’s rights. I don’t particularly like either of those movements and I think alcohol control is a lot more urgent than slavery or women’s rights.
10. Joelle Allen November 11, 2019 at 7:19 am

    My reformer was Dr. Sylvester Graham, and I learned more about were things came from that I did him. He invented graham crackers (my favorite snack) and he was a huge advocate for vegetarianism, personal hygiene, and drinking water. He created a plan to reduce risk of disease that included A diet free meat, alcohol, and spices. He suggested that people eat whole grains, homemade bread, and drink only cold water. He suggested that people stay away from activities that raise your heart rate too high and cause stress as well as, practice dental hygiene, get sunlight frequently, and wear comfortable clothing. Historians also believe that his stressing on the importance of exercise is what helped lead America’s sports boom. If Dr. Sylvester Graham existed it would be easy to support him, as his methods were proven true and they’re common sense things that we do every day, like brushing our teeth every day. However, I do see how he could be a controversial figure/ public reformer in twenty-nineteen because he stressed the religious importance of celibacy, temperance, and not eating meat. He didn’t chose to go vegetarian because he liked animals. Dr. Sylvester Graham felt that the bible provided the guidelines for a perfect diet, and that meat was even addictive when combined with other substances. Some people would feel that that was taking it too far. Most people would, but other than that, then yes. I could easily get behind him because he is only promoting public health. During his time many epidemics were taking place and in order to avoid them, this was viewed, by him and his followers, as the best way to keep the people healthy. Dr. Graham felt that Bleeding, purges, and other unpleasant treatments were ultimately pointless and his solution not only saved lives, but reduced the risk of anyone getting sick at all. During that time people were coming up with cures and ways to stop the disease from spreading, but Graham was preventing it from even starting in areas. And his followers were living proof as they were healthier than the average American. In today’s terms, Dr Sylvester Graham would basically just be a vegan influencer who promoted yoga and self-care. Instagram already has thousands of people like that, so not only would I be cool following him, I’m sure many others would too.

    When researching Dr. Sylvester Graham, it was difficult to find out his opinion on matters such as slavery and women’s rights. I know that he comes from the North East and his father was pastor. Graham was also a pastor himself, but the joined the Pennsylvania temperance movement and gave lectures against alcohol and it’s harms on the body. His lectures soon shifted their focus to a wider variety of bodily harms and he was soon telling the world how to care for themselves in ways other than modern medicine. He wasn’t a big fan of the work physicians were doing because diseases were still spreading, but since Graham was following the diet of the bible, he was sure that his methods were more effective. In many ways he was right as well because now a lot of the things he lectured on are things we learn in health class, but for different reasons other than religion. I feel that Dr. Sylvester Graham would’ve been in support of a religious member of the temperance society as well as advocates for abstinence. During the speed dating, I couldn’t find a man to fit this profile perfectly, so my answer is based off of who I met that I felt was closest to the mark. Catherine Beecher is a woman who came from a religious family, whose father was also a successful reformer who was a co-founder of the temperance society. This leads me to believe that some of his ideas would’ve rubbed off on her as far as religion and use of alcohol. She was in support of women’s education, which I’m not exactly sure how Graham would’ve felt about that as information, again, was difficult to find on topics other than veggies. But Graham is the youngest of 17 children with a mother who was in and out of mental institutions. He was raised by relatives and probably unlikely to go to school so I feel that he would be fond of education in one way or another. Also, the presenter of Catherin Beecher told me that she opened a school with physical education. Graham was a huge advocate for taking care of your body and educating the public on how to do so. So for the reasons stated, I feel that of everyone I met, he would appreciate her efforts more than all the religious reformers with looser interpretations of the bible, as well as the abolitionists because his views on the issue were never mentioned.

    3. I feel that Dr. Sylvester Graham would get along the worst with Henry David Thoreau. During their actual time period, Henry David Thoreau called Dr. Sylvester Graham a poet of pumpkin and bran. That’s proof that Henry David Thoreau actually didn’t get along with him, as Graham was referred to and made fun of as Dr. Bran, a professor of sawdust pudding and etc. Dr. Sylvester Graham had a specific following of bakers and butchers that disliked him for his lectures, but I feel that transcendentalists wouldn’t support the reasoning behind why the human diet should be the way it is because transcendentalists aren’t for religion with a lot of rules. In addition to these previous differences of opinion, Henry David Thoreau wasn’t a big believer in rules of the church and things like that. He wasn’t one for strict interpretations, which I think would’ve led to their greatest disputes. Thoreau supported individualism and being who you are, but Dr. Sylvester Graham had a rigid interpretation of the bible and how to follow it with his plan. Thoreau, however, was all about growing loser t god through nature, individualism, and perfectibility. Sylvester graham’s whole argument was to support that the bible states that people should only be vegetables, whole-grain foods, and fruit. This interpretation would mean that in order to follow God you would have to flow his diet that he has laid out for us, which goes against Henry David Thoreau’s beliefs that you can grow closer to and follow god just by being in nature. However, I feel that these two might’ve agreed on the ideas about exercise and frequently receiving sunlight because these ideas would force whoever is participating to go outside, leaving room for potential transcendentalist growth and recruiting of others who agreed with these values. These two do make me wonder how Dr. Sylvester Graham would feel about isolation because of the negative effects it has on mental health. Henry David Thoreau spent two years alone in a cabin off of Walden Lake and wrote a book about his times there. While I never read about or learned of any difference in opinion on solitude, I think it would be interesting to hear Sylvester Graham’s take on the
11. Jack Handzel November 11, 2019 at 7:53 am

    I learned three central aspects of Henry David Thoreau during the Antebellum Reformer Speed Dating In-class activity. To begin, I learned that later on in his life, Henry David Thoreau became a vivacious abolitionist as a result of his transcendentalist philosophy. This, while it may have simply been as one of many more faces in the rising tide of abolitionism, was a revival of Henry David Thoreau’s status as a reformer, as previous to this in his later life, and after his transcendentalist career, Henry David Thoreau worked as a common surveyor for Harvard University. The abolitionist movement stirred Henry David Thoreau’s beliefs enough that he, once again, became dedicated towards a higher improvement-based purpose. Finally, I learned that Henry David Thoreau had a brief but unsuccessful poetry career in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s publications, along with founding a progressive school with his brother John. While the lack of success comes as no surprise, the gradual drift from teaching in his brother’s school before John died of tetanus, to writing poetry in a transcendentalist newspaper, to a naturalist set of essays, to an essay about civil disobedience, to surveying frontier land. Thoreau, while unsuccessful for most of his life, certainly had a broadness of range which anybody could be envious of.

    Perhaps my favorite person at the Antebellum Reformer Speed Dating activity was Lucretia Mott. Lucretia (aside from having an awesome first name) possesses strong beliefs in abolitionism, women’s rights, and the creative arts. I firmly agree with both her abolitionist and suffrage reforming, as these are examples of the self-determination which transcendentalism endorses. In addition, I am personally an unsuccessful creative, so I am impressed with how she is a patron of the arts, helping people who may have similar desires as myself.

    Lastly, the person at Speed Dating which I most disliked was Brigham Young, as he restricts the spirituality of his followers in a firmly non-transcendentalist way, keeps slaves, an action disgusting to all abolitionists, and treats women in an inequal manner through polygamy, which stands against the equality principles of my transcendentalist philosophy.
12. Lara Ringey November 11, 2019 at 8:28 am

    Sarah Grimke was a female abolitionist and women’s rights activist, was born on November 26 in 1792. Sarah was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on a rich plantation with many slaves. Sarah developed strong feelings against slavery, and was a huge advocate for women’s rights. Sarah’s feelings rooted in her desire to learn what boys did in school. Sarah had her older brother teach her things like mathematics and Latin. When she was younger, she would teach the many slaves on her family’s plantation how to read. When she travelled up to the North, she found herself aligning her morals with the North’s, and she also found sentiment with the Quakers, who also shared many of the same beliefs. Sarah developed these feelings of anger, and eventually raised her younger sister Angelina Grimke to have the same morals. This eventually lead her to become one of the biggest civil rights activists. Her and her sister, Angelina toured around the country giving speeches. However, Sarah wasn’t as radical as her sister, nor as outspoken. Thus, Sarah’s opinions were most strongly expressed through her writing. Her booklets included; “Epistle to the Clergy of the Southern States,” “Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Women.” These were highly controversial, and caused her to receive many threats.
    The person that most closely shares the same beliefs as Sarah, was obviously her younger sister Angelina, due to the fact that Sarah taught Angelina to have the same morals as her. They both toured around the country together speaking out against the same issues, and they also both wrote booklets. Besides Angelina, William Lloyd Garrison also had the most similar mindset as her. Garrison was also an abolitionist, and believed that women should also have a role in the social reform.
    Lyman Beecher was a social reformer she would not support. He was against women’s rights, and he refused to teach African Americans. He was part of the temperance movement, which Sarah didn’t care for. Thus, because he against both African American’s rights as well as women’s rights, Sarah Grimke would not be a supporter of him.
13. geoffwickersham (Post author) November 11, 2019 at 12:59 pm

    I learned many things about my reformer, Horace Mann. For one, he was a massive proponent of
    public education, and advocated for a system of education similar to the system implemented in
    Prussia (which he traveled to at his own expense). He advocated against the use of physical, or
    corporal punishment in schools, favoring a more gentle approach to education. He also
    encouraged the secularization of schools to an extent, advocating for a school system that didn’t
    teach the controversial parts of Christianity, but rather the parts that all sects of the religion
    agreed on. He also was an abolitionist advocate, making fiery speeches when he was in the
    House of Representatives. For me, Horace Mann would be someone I could support if he existed
    in 2019. For one, I agree with his ideal of making public education better and more accessible to
    all possible students. I also agree with his stance of making corporal punishment a thing of the
    past, as well as his ideas of generally secular education. All of these things combined make
    Horace Mann someone I would support if he existed today, even if most of the issues he
    addressed are mostly resolved today.
    One reformer that would support Horace Mann would be Margaret Fuller. Like Horace Mann,
    she supported public education, and even further she supported the role of women in education,
    as did Horace Mann. In addition to that, Margaret Fuller was also a prominent activist against
    slavery, which Horace Mann also was. It seems that Horace Mann and Margaret Fuller disagreed
    on little, even women’s suffrage. These shared interests and positions on controversial issues
    would make these two very supportive of each others goals.
    Even with the many reformers that would support Horace Mann, there are some that would be
    vehemently against him. An example of a reformer that would be against Horace Mann is
    Brigham Young. Young was the second president of the Mormon Church, and was against racial
    equality, enacting a ban on priesthood for black men. This stance alone serves as a disagreement
    between him and Horace Mann, but even worse than that, Young was also a proponent of
    slavery. With Horace Mann being an outspoken abolitionist, it is safe to say that Young would be
    very opposed to the goals of Horace Mann.

    Charlie H.
14. Ty Kennedy November 11, 2019 at 1:34 pm

    My reformer was Frederick Douglass. When I was researching him, I learned a lot about his efforts to abolish slavery. Specifically, I found out a lot about his writings and travels. I learned about how he had visited Great Britain and Ireland to give speeches in churches and chapels. I learned that he did this in America, as well. I also learned about his abolitionist newspaper, the North Star, and how he secretly published it in the basement of a building. I also learned that Frederick Douglass was a strong women’s rights advocate, being the only African-American to attend and speak at the Seneca Falls Convention. I would still support Frederick Douglass today, even though slavery isn’t a major problem in the United States as it was in the 19th century. I know Frederick Douglass would try to abolish slavery in other countries in 2019 as well. I also know that if Frederick Douglass was still alive today, he would still be advocating for women’s rights.

    I believe Frances Ellen would support my reformers goals the most out of all the other reformers that I had met. Although she was born a free black women, and my reformer was born into slavery, she too was just a strong abolitionist as my reformer. She also lectured around the country, and was a strong advocate for education as well. She was known as the mother of African Journalism, and was a strong abolitionist writer. My reformer and Frances were both women’s rights advocates. Both my reformer and Frances gave speeches around the country and also wrote many pieces. Our opinions and beliefs almost were on top of each other, as many of our views were the same.

    Unsurprisingly, Millard Fillmore would support my reformer’s beliefs the least. He was an extreme nativist, and he had a strong dislike for slaves as well. He put the Slave Fugitive Act into place, which really hurt slaves and abolitionists like Frederick Douglass and Frances Ellen, who’s relatives and herself were poorly affected by the act. My reformer and Millard Fillmore would have disliked each other very strongly, as our opinions and beliefs were almost like the exact opposite of each other.
15. Emma DeMarco November 11, 2019 at 7:57 pm

    The reformer that I chose for the speed dating project was George Ripley. I learned that George Ripley was a transcendentalist reformer who had been previously been a Unitarian minister. He created a utopian society called “Brook Farm”, where social classes did not exist and everybody was paid the same amount for a full day of work. The society unfortunately failed due to financial issues, economic problems, and struggle for resources. I do not see myself supporting this person in 2019, as I believe his ideas were quite radical and unrealistic. I also do not believe in transcendentalism, and personally would never see myself living like that. His utopian community was too similar to communism, which i think is not a very smart or senseful way of live.
    I believe that my reformer, George Ripley, would be supported by transcendentalist reformer Robert Owen. Robert Owen also built a utopian community that failed due to poor leadership and financial problems. This is similar to George Ripley’s failed community, “Brook Farm”. As they are both transcendentalists, they have very similar beliefs in way of life and religion. Owen was also passionate about child labor laws, while Ripley believed in a workforce in his utopian community that consisted of those doing the jobs that they personally wanted to do, which prevented children from being forced into labor. Ripley was also a very strong supporter of social and educational rights, as Owen advocated the reform and improvement of children’s education. Being a supporter of the removal of social restriction, Ripley would very likely also be a supporter of Robert Owen’s belief in social equality between both men and women.
    I do not think that any of the reformers strongly that i met strongly opposed any of Ripley’s views, though I believe that Samuel Morse would not be a supporter of Ripley. Morse was a strong defender of slavery, while Ripley greatly oppsed it. Ripley opposed any social or educational restriction, while Morse hated Catholics, immigrants, and supported the enslavement of blacks. This would cause for a great disagreement between the two involving many social issues.
16. geoffwickersham (Post author) November 13, 2019 at 10:57 am

    When I researched my reformer Robert Owen was very pleased that I had picked a nice guy. He was born on November seventh 1801 in Glasgow Scotland and died on June twenty fourth 1877 in Lake George New York at the age of 75. He was the eldest son of seven, at the age of sixteen he was sent to school in Hofwyl and came back to help his dad in the textile industry. His father Robert Owen was a social reformer who argued for social equality. Robert Owen immigrated and became U.S. citizens in 1825 when he was twenty four with his parents and his three surviving brothers and single sister. He was an advocate for education for everyone started building schools around the country along with mills. I would support him if he was alive today because he made more schools and I believe everyone deserves an education.

    I believe that my reformer would get most along with Horace Mann because both were advocates for education and Horace made the Massachusetts State Board of Education and Robert Owen created the first infant school in Great Britain. I believe that they would have gotten along very well because they were both for the way of education and had both done very much to support it. They both were also agenst slavery Horacc Mann’s job had to do with getting rid of slavery in U.S. Congress. Robert Owen was an abolitionist for slavery and went about try too get rid of it.

    I believe that Robert Owen would have gotten along with Henry David Through the least because Robert Owen liked the idea of Industrialisation and went about creating mills. Robert Owen would not have disliked Through because of that Through would have liked the fact that Robert Owen provided jobs to children and tried to limit their time that they could work so they were not over exhausted. He also saw that the competition between human labor and machine labor was going to cause distress with the workers and they would have seen eye to eye on that and would have agreed on it. They probably would have gotten along but might have had some arguments with each other.

    Jack K.
17. Jacob Pasco November 13, 2019 at 12:47 pm

    Lyman Beecher was a priest who was very influential for the Protestant community. One of his first sermons, that put him on the map, was about the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. He published six sermons about temperance and they sold in Europe for about 50 years. They were translated into multiple languages. He was the cofounder of the American Temperance Society and an important preacher in the 2nd Great Awakening.
    I probably wouldn’t support Lyman Beecher because he was not for women’s right to vote. That is a problem in 2019, because everyone has a right to vote regardless of their race or gender. However, I do support his views on temperance. I personally don’t care, but I think practicing temperance is better than being drunk all the time. Alcoholism is not good.
    The reformer who would support Beecher the most would be the other temperance guy, because they both like temperance. The reformer who would not support Beecher would be the one that is the drunkest. There was no one who was really anti-temperance.
    this is all i got
18. Kieran Kamish November 13, 2019 at 12:59 pm

    During the activity on Thursday, I chose David Walker as my reformer. While researching for the activity, I learned many things about him that were quite interesting. Unlike most African Americans at that time, David Walker was born a free man since the status of free or enslaved was determined by the status of the mother. Even though he was free, Walker still felt the pain and oppression of seeing his fellow African Americans working in the fields all day against their will and getting whipped, beaten, and sexually abused. David Walker moved to Boston in 1825 and became an Abolitionist alongside other reformers such as William Lloyd Garrison. In 1829, David Walker wrote an appeal stating that readers should take a role in fighting against the oppression of African Americans and encourage white Americans to realize the moral and religious faliure of slavery. He founded the Massachusetts General Colored Association, which was against the idea of colonization of free African Americans to places like Liberia or Sierra Leone in Africa. David Walker also believed in equal rights for all people, and he believed in the idea of black nationalism. “It should be our country more than theirs, for we have enriched it with our blood and tears”. If David Walker was alive in 2019, I believe that his ideas would be very different than the ideas he had during the time when he lived. In 2019, slavery has long been gone. Because of this, I think that David Walker would be advocating for something similar to the “Black Lives Matter” movement. If David Walker lived in 2019, Me supporting him or not would depend on if he became too “radical”, meaning that he would go over-the-top in supporting movements such as black lives matter or something like that. Doing things such as dehumanizing anyone who isn’t black, or starting radical riots or protests. If he was “chill” when it came to this kind of topic, Then would support him every time. Out of all the reformers from Thursday, I believe that Frederick Douglass would most support David Walker because Frederick Douglass was born a slave, and he experienced firsthand how badly African Americans were treated during that time. David Walker was also very good friends with Frederick Douglass since they supported the same abolitionist movement. If there was a reformer that wouldn’t support David Walker’s ideas, it would be Samuel Morse. Samuel Morse was highly conservative and nativist. Morse did not like the idea that people were being forced to work against their will, but he was opposed to slavery being abolished because he did not like the idea of people of different races living in America at the same time.
19. kyle cox November 25, 2019 at 6:59 am

    While researching mt antebellum reformer sarah grimkiei learned that she was the first white woman ever to fight for anti savery in the south and being in her position during that made it dangerous for her to be as outspoken as she was in the 1800s. She accomplished a lot in her life time.is sarah grimkie was a person today i would fully support her politics because of her morals among people of color. I feel like because of her support for african americans she would be supportive of a lot of african american movements. And be an advocate for equality in all forms. I would want to watch her give a speech like she used to do back when she was alive
    Areformer that i would support that i met would be sarah grimke sister anglina grimkie who also was a anti slavery reformer and is simullar to sarah in morals and belifes i would support her because she would also support movments for euqallityand pece.sarah and her sister her fearless in fighting for african americans and womens rights.
    Lymenn beecher is an activist that i don’t agree with he believed that women do not deserve and do not have enough mental capacity to be full fledged citizens, He was not a racist and even was an anti abolitionist. He would not agree with sarah grimke or with any women at all because he is old fashioned beliefs and disrespectful words toward women he also did a lot of work with the american temperance movement and was apart of a religion that didn’t agree with america’s drunkenness. Overall his beliefs on women are very poor and outdated but his belief in temperance and anti slaver is upside to his rather off putting politics.