Response to the age of reform Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Response to the age of reform - Essay Example The reform brought a revolution in the ever expanding American community which was going to lead the world in the next centuries. Here, we will discuss how the age of Reform contributed to the United States’ sense of morality and what are the effects of the ideas and viewpoints of the early reformers on the American nation, today. Henry David Thoreau is considered to be the first reformer of this era with his substantial struggle to revolutionize the American society, buried deep into piles of illiteracy due to their conservative thinking. Men and women led by such great reformers strived to develop a community where laws of liberty and equality were equally applicable to everyone. The religious influence, war against alcohol, education for some and many other such strategies were developed to reshape the American society to enable it to live up to the noble goals stated in declaration of Independence and the Constitution. With the growth in America’s population, the community was facing a threat. According to Alan Brinkley, â€Å"most people were excited by the possibilities these changes produced. But they were also painfully aware of the dislocations that accompanied them.† (Brinkley). The rapid increase in American population, compelled American thinkers to try new ideas. One of such ideas was the formation of utopian society. An utopian society is a perfect society. â€Å"George Ripley endeavored to create one of the first utopian societies in West Roxberry, Massachusetts. The community was called Brook Farm, and was established in 1841.† (â€Å"Utopian Society†) Although the society soon dispersed, yet we see its remaining strains present in the modern American society. It has been tried; to build today’s American society on the basis of natural laws, one of which is the liberation of one’s spirit. It was an important idea developed by the philosophers o f that time to reveal