Reference no: EM13194350

The course textbook states that "discrepancies between the nation's values and the conditions of many Americans' lives, together with moral energies released by the Great Awakening, fueled a flurry of reform movements aimed at alleviating poverty and distress and improving women's lives" . Explain how both this discrepancy and this moral energy can be seen in the early and mid-nineteenth century. The textbook also states that one of the central dilemmas of reform as the question "Is it more effective to appeal to people's minds in order to change bad institutions, or to change institutions first, assuming that altered behavior will then change attitudes" ? Explain how both sides of this dilemma can be seen in the reform movements of the mid-nineteenth century. Finally, the textbook suggests that the mid-nineteenth century utopian communities that had been part of the reform movement failed because "Americans seemed unwilling to share either their property or their spouses". Explain why this unwillingness was the case, and what it suggests about the values and beliefs that have dominated the worldviews of many Americans. Also, consider and describe how this same unwillingness might still prevail in contemporary American society and culture.