Changes in Society in the Past Have Had Lasting Effects on Our Lives Today
Society has gone through a variety of changes in the past, some beneficial and others detrimental. The important thing for us to remember is that these changes matter to how we live our lives today. In the 1800s, life was changing, just as it is now. Back then, women began demanding that they be treated as equals in society, the institution of slavery lost support as people realized its immoral nature, the notion of free and public education gained popularity, and American artists and thinkers began to create their own unique American style. Today, we still struggle with gender inequality, racism, and with perfecting our education system so it is fair and equal. The social reforms that began in the 1800s continue to affect our society and we continue to work toward a complete freedom and equality among all members of our society. Studying past reforms allow us to see that without the changes of the past, our future would be drastically different.
The Suffragist movement gave women freedom and power over their own lives. If you are a woman today, you would not be able to vote or have control of your own life without the efforts of the Suffragists in the 1800-1900s. The Abolitionist movement helped bring slavery to an end and gave African-Americans the rights that they deserved as human beings and American citizens. Without abolition, our society would not guarantee the freedoms that it does today, to all people. You would not be sitting in school today without the education reform movement and the establishment of free and public education. These are only brief examples of the reforms that occurred in the 1800s, but they give a crucial insight into the importance of studying our past and how we can use our past experiences to affect our own changes in society. Social reform in the 1800s was a result of changing perceptions of who deserved to be free and what those freedoms entailed. We use our knowledge of the past and the social changes that occurred then as examples of the changes that we can make now. Some aspects of history we may examine and tell ourselves, “never again,” but others we may study and determine that it is time to use the freedoms that they fought for to make our society our own.
Studying the social changes of the past allow us to see the importance of standing up for what we believe is right. Without social reforms and the influential people that enacted those reforms, nothing can ever improve. It is our duty as American citizens to look at society and choose what we believe needs to change and what we believe is unjust. Justice and freedom are at the heart of social reform. However, we need to understand and study the context of society's past changes in order to successfully reform our own world to change it for the better. We can use the past to inform our decisions in the present and help mold our society.
The Suffragist movement gave women freedom and power over their own lives. If you are a woman today, you would not be able to vote or have control of your own life without the efforts of the Suffragists in the 1800-1900s. The Abolitionist movement helped bring slavery to an end and gave African-Americans the rights that they deserved as human beings and American citizens. Without abolition, our society would not guarantee the freedoms that it does today, to all people. You would not be sitting in school today without the education reform movement and the establishment of free and public education. These are only brief examples of the reforms that occurred in the 1800s, but they give a crucial insight into the importance of studying our past and how we can use our past experiences to affect our own changes in society. Social reform in the 1800s was a result of changing perceptions of who deserved to be free and what those freedoms entailed. We use our knowledge of the past and the social changes that occurred then as examples of the changes that we can make now. Some aspects of history we may examine and tell ourselves, “never again,” but others we may study and determine that it is time to use the freedoms that they fought for to make our society our own.
Studying the social changes of the past allow us to see the importance of standing up for what we believe is right. Without social reforms and the influential people that enacted those reforms, nothing can ever improve. It is our duty as American citizens to look at society and choose what we believe needs to change and what we believe is unjust. Justice and freedom are at the heart of social reform. However, we need to understand and study the context of society's past changes in order to successfully reform our own world to change it for the better. We can use the past to inform our decisions in the present and help mold our society.