Common Schools Mvmt
What was the main goal of the Common Schools movement led by reformers like Horace Mann?
To establish publicly funded schools to educate all children and teach a common sense of morality and citizenry.
What was the primary aim of the abolition movement in the United States?
To end slavery in the United States
What right did the women’s suffrage movement seek for women?
The right to cast a vote in our democratic processes.
What problem did the child labor movement try to address in the 19th century?
Outlawing children from working long hours or dangerous positions under the age of 13 in the United States.
What is a labor union?
An organization of workers formed to protect their rights and interests.
Name one way common (public) schools impacted immigrant or poor children in the 19th century
Increased literacy and basic skills for immigrant/poor children to increase their opportunities in life; offered socialization into American civic values.
Name one prominent abolitionist and one action they took to oppose slavery.
Examples: Frederick Douglass (lectured, wrote autobiography), William Lloyd Garrison (published The Liberator), Harriet Tubman (guided people on the Underground Railroad) Sojourner Truth (spoke to people and politicians alike & advocated for the rights of Black Americans.
Name one leader in the early women’s suffrage movement and one thing she did.
Susan B. Anthony (organized, campaigned, helped form NAWSA), Elizabeth Cady Stanton (organized Seneca Falls, drafted Declaration of Sentiments).
Give one example of the kinds of jobs children often did during early industrialization.
Farming, Factories, textile mills, coal mines, factories, as newsboys, and in home-based laborers.
Name one reason workers formed unions during the 19th century.
Reasons: low wages, long hours, unsafe conditions, lack of job security.
Identify one reform Horace Mann promoted to improve public education.
Professional teacher training, standardized curriculum, longer school terms, public funding via property tax collection, reduction or elimination of child labor.
Explain how literacy was a tool for advocacy in the abolition movement.
Abolitionists published newspapers, wrote and delivered speeches, and wrote and testified before politicians as strategies to gain public support for their cause.
Explain a counterargument used to deny women the right to vote.
Women were intellectually inferior to men, Women's votes were unnecessary because a man's vote represented the entire household, if women could vote it will flip gender roles.
Name one reform (law or policy) that aimed to limit child labor and explain its effect.
Laws like state child labor laws and federal measures (later, Fair Labor Standards Act) raised minimum working ages to 13 and beyond and limited working hours for teenage workers; early effects included reduced work hours and increased school attendance.
Explain one tactic workers used (like strikes) and one result such actions sometimes achieved.
Tactic: strikes (workers refusing to work); possible results: employers negotiating better wages/conditions, or violent clashes and sometimes setbacks.
Explain how the Common Schools movement connected to the idea of citizenship in the 1800s.
Public education promoted informed citizenship by teaching reading, civics, and shared history—helping prepare students for participation in democracy
Describe one political or legal impact the abolition movement had before or during the Civil War.
Political/legal impacts: increased sectional tensions, complicated the adoption of statehood for states in the west, helped push for the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment; influenced party politics and elections.
Describe one way the suffrage movement connected to other reform movements of the 19th century.
Connections: many suffragists were active in abolition, temperance, and education reform; networks and campaign strategies overlapped. All were fighting for justice and liberty in the eyes of the nation.
Explain how child labor reformers gathered evidence or used investigations to push for change.
Reformers (investigative journalists, middle-class reformers) documented conditions with photos, reports, and testimonies to persuade lawmakers and the public.
Describe one way industrial working conditions influenced the growth of unions and reform efforts.
Dangerous, exhausting conditions, low wages, and long hours led workers to demand safety laws, limits on hours, and collective bargaining—fueling union growth.
Describe a criticism or limitation of the early Common Schools system (such as who was excluded or how curriculum was limited).
Criticisms: schools often excluded or segregated Black students, Native American children faced forced assimilation, girls had limited opportunities, and curriculum sometimes ignored diverse histories.
Analyze how abolitionists used primary sources or speeches to persuade Northerners to support ending slavery
Abolitionists used narratives (slave autobiographies), speeches, and newspapers to appeal to moral senses and present eyewitness evidence (e.g., Douglass’s Narrative, Truth's testimonies).
What was the timeline for women's suffrage to be ratified within the Constitution?
It took 80 years from the 1840's until it was added as the 19th constitutional amendment in 1920.
Analyze the relationship between compulsory schooling laws (from the Common Schools movement) and reductions in child labor.
Compulsory schooling reduced the labor pool of children, increased school attendance, and made child labor less acceptable and legally restricted.
Compare how one labor reform (for example, shorter workdays or safety laws) affected both workers and businesses; include one short-term and one long-term effect.
Shorter workday: short-term effect—workers had more rest and possibly lost pay if hours cut without wage adjustment; long-term effect—improved health, productivity, and set precedent for labor standards benefiting society and stabilizing workforce.