Key Figures in 19th Century American Reform Movements

Henry David Thoreau

Writer who supported abolitionism and opposed the Mexican-American War; author of "Plea for Captain John Brown"; transcendentalist; advocated equality and individual conscience.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Transcendentalist focused on individualism; believed the Mexican-American War was unjust; encouraged self-discovery and discouraged conformity; author of "Self-Reliance."

Neil Dow

Prohibitionist mayor; enforced laws limiting alcohol purchases; believed in total abstinence; major figure in the Temperance Movement; veteran.

Lyman Beecher

Revivalist Protestant minister; criticized U.S. alcohol laws; co-founder of the American Temperance Society; believed alcohol undermined religion and faith.

Grimké Sisters (Sarah and Angelina)

Abolitionists and women's rights advocates; daughters of a slaveholding father; worked with Quakers and became Quakers; active in reform movements.

Horace Mann

Leading advocate for public education; believed schooling should be free; self-educated; lawyer and member of the House of Representatives; anti-slavery; promoted equal rights and mental health reform; "Father of the Public School System."

William Lloyd Garrison

Abolitionist and anti-imperialist; co-founder of the American Anti-Slavery Society; editor of The Liberator; demanded immediate emancipation; active in the Northeast.

Robert Owen

Welsh-born immigrant and utopian socialist; began child labor at age 10; bought a factory and improved working conditions; shortened workdays; founded the first infant school; promoted education and workplace reform.

Dorothea Dix

Advocate for the mentally ill; campaigned for funding for asylums; helped establish 32 state mental hospitals; helped fund St. Elizabeth's Hospital in D.C.

Sojourner Truth

Born into slavery; gained freedom; leading abolitionist and women's rights advocate; first African American woman to win a lawsuit against a white man; well-known speaker.

David Walker

Born free in North Carolina; abolitionist who encouraged enslaved people to resist; author of The Appeal; criticized Founding Fathers for hypocrisy; influenced civil rights activists; died at 34.