social reform

Social reform in America

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Humanitarianism took two forms in America in the nineteenth century: the improvement of lives through relief measures and an attempt to eradicate the roots of social evils. Groups like the Quakers were especially sensitive to suffering and injustice. Others, unfortunately, did not see a need to end evils like slavery, cruel methods of punishment for criminals, or the life sentences given to debtors. Quakers took the lead in reform in Pennsylvania and obtained a better legal code from the state legislature. Other states soon adopted improvements. Religion was carried into the prisons and methods of education were introduced. The Volunteers of America and the American Prison Association were also Christian agencies engaged in prison reform. Lyman Beecher of Connecticut and other ministers preached against alcohol abuse while the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, founded in 1874, helped form a Prohibition political party. The greatest evil of the age, though, was slavery. Entrenched in the South after the cotton industry became profitable, it became the defining issue of the nineteenth century. Slowly church people in the North came to believe that they could no longer cooperate with slaveholders, and the denominational organizations of Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians split apart. When Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin became a sensation, its story depicting the horrors of slavery fully awoke the Northern churches to the necessity of abolition. When the Civil War began in 1861 it was not only a war for the preservation of the Union against the secession of the slaveholding states, it was also a crusade for the emancipation of the slaves. Churches provided chaplains for the armies on both sides. The end came with a victory for the Union and the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation, which President Abraham Lincoln had issued in 1863.

Impact: While some reform efforts were successful, others failed over time. The net result to the churches, however, was an increased fervor to apply the Christian message of hope to every aspect of life.

Social reform in Britain

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While the French Revolution called attention to social misery in other countries besides France, it was in England and America that the humanitarian spirit found its greatest opportunity to breathe. Christians who were conscious of social wrongs gave particular attention in England to poverty, intemperance, slavery, and industrial ills. Methodism had carried religion to the working people. Wesley had tried outreach experiments and had been active in philanthropy. But agricultural conditions kept the rural people poor and the lack of schools kept them ignorant. The Industrial Revolution altered working conditions and enslaved the young and old alike. Those who couldn’t pay their debts were commonly punished by imprisonment. Slavery in the British Empire was a national disgrace. These and other conditions aroused the Christian reformers. John Howard worked tirelessly to improve prison conditions. When he had secured better prison conditions in England he went to the European Continent where he died as a result of his persistent efforts. William Wilberforce secured the abolition of slavery throughout the Empire. And Lord Shaftesbury spent his career working for a number of reforms.

Impact: These and other men and women, among the first to be called evangelicals, organized the Church Missionary Society and other Bible and tract societies. Together they took the lead in social reform and helped to make significant and lasting changes in Britain, changes that inspired other believers around the world.

Wilberforce, William

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William Wilberforce (1759-1833) was an English abolitionist. He was born in Yorkshire, England and studied at Cambridge. He became a member of the House of Commons in 1790 where he remained for over 30 years. Through the influence of John Newton, one of his former teachers, he became a devout evangelical Christian and an advocate for social reforms. His efforts to abolish the slave trade were achieved in 1807 when a bill that abolished the evil practice became law. His work was not done, however. It wasn’t until 1833, a month after he died, that an Emancipation Bill was passed that freed all slaves under British rule. During his life he also helped to found numerous charitable organizations, mission societies, and Bible foundations. He used his power and position to help enact laws that represented the Christian ideals he believed should govern society.