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Grade 7 Social Studies Unit 7

Reform Movements

Unit description: Social, political, and economic inequalities sparked various reform movements and resistance efforts. Influenced by the Second Great Awakening, New York State played a key role in major reform efforts. In this unit, students will define and explore the Second Great Awakening and the strong presence of reform movements during this time, with an emphasis on the abolitionist movement which worked to raise awareness of and generate resistance to the institution of slavery. Students will also investigate the presence of women in these movements as they fought for more rights.

Download the complete Grade 7 Social Studies Unit 7 framework to customize for your own planning.

Standards

Standards: 1, 5; Themes: SOC, CIV, GOV

Essential Questions and Big Ideas

  • Big idea of the unit: Social, political, and economic inequalities sparked various reform movements and resistance efforts.
  • What is the Second Great Awakening and how did it inspire people during this time period?
    • The Second Great Awakening, which had a strong showing in New York State, inspired reform movements.
  • What are some of the major reform movements sparked during this time period and the circumstances that lead to them?
    • The abolitionist movement worked to raise awareness of and generate resistance to the institution of slavery.
    • Women joined the movements for abolition and temperance and organized to advocate for women’s property rights, fair wages, education, and political equality.
    • The Anti-Rent movement in New York State was an attempt by tenant farmers to protest the land ownership system.
  • What were some of the ways the abolitionist movement worked to make change?
    • Enslaved Africans organized and resisted their conditions.
    • William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Tubman worked to abolish slavery.
    • Uncle Tom’s Cabin on the public perception of slavery.
  • What was New York’s role in the abolitionist movement?
    • Harriett Tubman worked to set up stations of the Underground Railroad in New York State.
    • The seizure of the ship, La Amistad, carrying enslaved Africans, off the coast of Long Island and the resulting Supreme Court decision in United States v. The Amistad (1841)
  • How did women advocate for more rights and political equality?
    • Women joined the movements for abolition and temperance and organized to advocate for women’s property rights, fair wages, education, and political equality.