Unit VIII: "Waves of Reform" ca 1880s to 1921

Question/Problem 1: What were the political, economic, and social reforms that shaped America?

Directions: Read the following excerpt to get an idea of the problem addressed by the reform movement.

In 1902 the National Women's Christian Temperance Union stated its beliefs in this way:

We believe in the gospel of the Golden Rule, and that each man's habits of life should be an example safe and beneficent for every other man to follow....

We therefore formulate, and for ourselves adopt the following pledge, asking our sisters and brothers of a common danger and a common hope, to make common cause with us, in working its reasonable and helpful precepts into the practice of everyday life:

I hereby solemnly promise GOD HELPING ME, to abstain from all distilled, fermented and malt liquors, including wine, Beer and Cider, and to employ all proper means to discourage the use of and traffic in the same.

To conform and enforce the rationale of this pledge, we declare our purpose to educate the young; to form a better public sentiment; to reform so far as possible, by religious, ethical and scientific means, the drinking classes; to seek the transforming power of divine grace for ourselves and all for whom we work, that they and we may willfully transcend no law of pure and wholesome living; and finally we pledge ourselves to labor and to pray that all of these principles, founded upon the Gospel of Christ, may be worked out into the customs of Society and the Laws of the Land.

From Henry Steele Commager, ed., Documents of American History (New York: Meredith Corporation, 1968).

Directions: Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.

Part I: In your own words, describe the problem being addressed by this excerpt.

Part II: Research the following terms and individuals to learn more about the specific people and actions involved with this reform.

	Women's Christian Temperance Union	Frances Willard
	Carrie Nation	Eighteenth Amendment