Free Enterprise and Social Reforms Quiz Study Guide

Free Enterprise

1. Free Enterprise: (CAPITALISM - making a profit!) the American economic system that grew along with the Industrial Revolution. Key features of this system include:

• Private property rights - people are free to own private (and intellectual) property without interference from the government or others

• Competition - markets can have many competitors; this encourages businesses to improve products and services

• Limited government - the government has little interference in a free market economy

• Freedom of the consumer - citizens have the right to purchase what they want 

• Supply and demand - prices of goods are tied to supply and demand; a scarcity of supply or a high demand will cause prices to increase; an oversupply or a low demand will cause prices to decrease 

Social Reforms

1. Hudson River School: a style of painting that originated in the U.S. that was influenced by the Romanticism era. The style celebrated the natural beauty of the American landscape and showed a desire of its artists to become independent of European schools of painting. 

2. The Second Great Awakening: was a renewal of one’s faith and encouraged people to do good deeds for others in society. Citizens joined social movements to address social problems and improve American society. 

Seneca Falls Convention: July, 1848; it was the first organized convention to address women’s rights. The delegates wrote the Declaration of Sentiments (similar to the Declaration of Independence), which stated their desire for equality for women.Temperance movement: groups largely led by women and churches that fought to end the consumption of alcohol in America. The groups argued that drinking alcohol led to crime, violence, joblessness, and family issues. 

2. Transcendentalism: a movement led by Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and others that promoted individualism and self-reliance. They encouraged citizens to rise above (transcend) materialism and reestablish a connection to nature and simpler times. It is often argued that this movement was a push back against the industrial revolution.   

3. Women’s rights: various groups that worked tirelessly for equal rights for women in society and in the workplace. These groups also fought for women’s suffrage (right to vote). Leaders of this movement included Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Susan B. Anthony. 

4. Workers’ rights: as Americans and immigrants flocked to factory jobs, labor leaders fought for shorter work days and a five-day work week for employees. They also fought for higher pay and safer working conditions. To further strengthen employee rights, labor leaders encouraged workers to form labor unions.  

People

1. Dorothea Dix: her investigations helped reform care for the mentally disabled and encouraged the rehabilitation of prisoners.

2. Frederick Douglass: spoke against the horrors of slavery because of his own experiences as a slave and wrote his own personal story in an autobiography. He also published an abolitionist newspaper, The North Star. 

3. Horace Mann: he helped reform public schools and is considered the “Father of Education”. Mann wanted free education for all children and  better training and higher pay for teachers.Harriet Beecher Stowe: her best-selling novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin, was a brutal and realistic portrait of slavery and stoked the fires of abolitionists throughout the country.  

2. Harriet Tubman: was called the “Moses” of her people; she personally transported over 300 fugitives to safety in the North along the Underground Railroad.