Although the leadership of reform movements of the 1840s and 1850s (temperance, abolitionism, social purity, and so on) was largely male, many of the members of reform organisations were women. Explain the significance of the preponderance of women in reform organisations. What was the relationship between gender and reform?
Amidst a background of religious revival and polarisation of the sexes, women in America began to embrace reform organisations. The institutions of church and school fostered close relations among these educated middle class women. They nurtured a female culture where…
