Revolutionary Reformers

Dorothea Dix

Dorothea Dix

            I am Dorothea Dix was born 1802. I was a school teacher and used my grandmother’s wealth to teach poor and neglected  students in my one room school house in Baltimore 1821.My book Conversations on Common Things was made in 1824 and was made with the task of encouraging women and girls to pursue their educational goals. It disgusts me to see the deplorable conditions that the mentally disabled are forced to live in, they are chained to beds and are ignored they sit on top of their own defecation. Women are supposed to care for even the most seemingly insignificant of creature but at the same time we are not supposed to be exposed to anything that should “dare be unsightly”! The mere outrage at the conditions that humans are living in, our country is founded on the basis of equality for all, but what of these men and women, the government has done nothing for them the most interest that the government has shown is in the action of rejecting and ignoring these men and women from society.

            Human nature is fundamentally good but the neglect of certain rights to all humans is wrong. Women were barred from voting, could not hold office, and did not present such testimonials themselves before the legislature meaning that a male representative had to read the text aloud. Pamphlets were the only means by which women could participate in the political “scene”. Are women not humans as well? “Moral treatment,” was developed from the work of French psychiatrist Philippe Pinel and from new practices used at hospitals such as England’s York Retreat My tireless work and dramatic testimonials highlighted the appalling conditions in existing institutions and promoted the inherent value of compassionate care.

            Society can be influenced by both active and withdrawal involvement in society. The betterment of education and the mentally challenged both deserve active involvement, both are pressing issues to society. A good society is made when education for all rich and poor, men and women are  made possible. Society has willed itself into believing that the mentally ill cannot be cured. Despite my strong involvement in the feminist movement I was never publicly involved. My vivid interpretations of the grueling circumstances had a powerful effect on politicians they were shamed into taking action on behalf of the “inmates” of mental institutions.

Dix hospital

APPARTS: DIX HOSPITAL

A uthor: none are credited
P lace: 1872 North Carolina
P rior knowledge: Dorothea Dix was an advocate for those who were mentally challenged, blind and death, she sought to better their living conditions.
A udience: citizens in North Carolina
R eason:  to show one of the first "Lunatic Asylum"s
T he main idea: The source illustrates a "Lunatic Asylum"s layout
S ignficance: Dorothea Dix was a devoted advocate for the mentally challenged. She donated land that she had inherited from her rich grandmother.

APPARTS: DIX HOSPITAL

A uthor: Dorothea Dix
P lace: not stated, most likely during an awareness campaign
P rior knowledge: Dorothea Dix was an advocate for those who were mentally challenged, blind and death she was disgusted with society's ignorance of those who were pushed away from public eye.
A udience: Those who supported her or wanted to learn more about Dix.
R eason:  Dix asserts her reasoning fro her fight against the conditions the mentally challenged are forced to live in.
T he main idea: The source states her purpose for advocacy of the "mentally challenged"
S ignficance: During this time women were exposed to be compassionate for all, but should not "witness the impurities of society". Dix challenged this idea, she wanted to give voices to those who were ignored.

Sojouner Truth

Sojouner Truth

            I was born Isabella Baumfree in Ulster County, a Dutch settlement in upstate New York, I was born into slavery and worked in the Hardenbergh plantation.  In 1827 I escaped the plantation owned by John Dumont with my infant daughter and I stated “I did not run off, I thought that wicked, but I walked off, believing that to be alright”. I was "overwhelmed with the greatness of the Divine presence" and inspired to preach. I began to attend the local Methodist church and, in 1829, left Ulster County with a white evangelical teacher named Miss Gear. I quickly became known as a remarkable preacher whose influence "was miraculous." . In 1844, still liking the Utopian cooperative ideal I joined the Northampton Association of Education and Industry in Massachusetts a 210 members  who lived on 500 acres of farmland, raising livestock, running grist and saw mills, and operating a silk factory. The Association was founded by abolitionists to promote cooperative and productive labor. We were strongly anti-slavery, religiously tolerant, women's rights supporters, and pacifist in principles. As a member I met and worked with abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison, Frederick Douglass, and David Ruggles. Unfortunately, the community was  disbanded in 1846 amid debt.

            Human nature is corrupted by classes that humans are put into: gender, race, economic class. People lie, my slave owner had . Dumont had promised to grant me  freedom a year before the state emancipation, "if [I]  would do well and be faithful." However this promise was proved to be a fallacy, when he  claimed that  a hand injury had made me less productive. I  was enraged ,I had  understood fairness and duty to be the very principle of the master-slave relationship. So I continued working until I felt that I had done enough to satisfy my obligation to him  spinning 100 pounds of wool. I later became involved with the popular Spiritualism religious movement of the time, through a group called the Progressive Friends, an offshoot of the Quakers. The group believed in abolition, women's rights, non-violence, and communicating with spirits. In 1857, I sold my  home in Northampton and bought one in Harmonia, Michigan (just west of Battle Creek), to live with this community.

            The only way that society can be improved is through active involvement. Numerous times I have found myself traveling in order to give speeches on topics that most of the time are not made given importance in “normal society”.  In 1870, I began campaigning for the federal government to provide former slaves with land in the "new West." I  did  this for seven years, with little success.As a slave I was abused for years on end until I was fed up with it, I took my life into my own hands, what would have happened if I did not? Would I have been dead by now?

           

APPARTS: AINT I A WOMAN

A uthor: Soujouner Truth
P lace: Delivered: May 1851 Ohio at the Women's Right's Convention 
 Recorded: June 21, 1851 by Marcus Robinson in an issue of the Anti-Slavery Bugle 
P rior knowledge:Truth was once a slave herself. She was one of the first Black women to go against a white man in court over the recovery of her son.
A udience: People who were in the convention then anyone during that time.
R eason: to motivate people and to support women in their quest for equality
T he main idea:  One of Truth's first speeches (public)
S ignficance: Truth was not formally educated but what she did know she used in her favor to give power to her speeches and appealed to others.

APPARTS: MEETING WITH PRESIDENT LINCOLN

A uthor: none specified

P lace: October 29,1864 

P rior knowledge: After Truth freed herself from slavery she traveled and presented speeches for the abolitionist movement. Lincoln was not always in support of abolition.

A udience: Anyone during the time that was interested in Truth or Lincoln's movements

R eason: To gain people for the Abolitionist movement

T he main idea: During the time abolition was controversial as slavery became the South's source of economic power. The fact that Lincoln met with Truth, who was not only an abolitionist but a female abolitonist gave many hope.

S ignficance: Truth was a very strong woman and extremely educated to her work as both a feminist and abolitionist. 

case blog #2: Fletcher v Peck

In 1795, the Georgia state legislature passed a land grant awarding territory to four private companies. These lands were known as the Yazoo land territory, present day Mississippi and Alabama, the transaction was known as the Yazoo land act. These lands were sparsely populated and named after the Yazoo Tribe of Native Americans. Every member but one in the Georgia Legislature had been bribed into selling the 35 million acres to the private companies at two cents per  acre totaling five-hundred-thousand, this became known as the Yazoo Scandal.

Most of the legislators lost the following election and the new legislature passed a statute in 1796 essentially nullifying the transactions. In 1796 the new Georgia legislature voided the law and declared all rights and claims under it to be invalid. In 1800, John Peck acquired land that was part of the original legislative grant. He then sold 15, 000 acres to Robert Fletcher three years later, in 1803 for the price of three thousand dollars, claiming that past sales of the land had been legitimate. Fletcher sued Peck to establish the constitutionality of the 1796 act; either the act was constitutional and the contract was void, or the act was unconstitutional and Fletcher had clear title to the land.

The Supreme Court in a six to one decision ruled that the state legislature's repeal of the law was void because it was unconstitutional. Marshall held that the sale was a binding contract,  that according to Article I, Section 10, Clause I, the Contract Clause of the Constitution, cannot be nullified. Even if illegally secured and as a result the ruling lends further protection to property rights against pressures. It is the earliest case of the Court asserting its right to invalidate state laws that conflict with the Constitution. Fletcher v. Peck was the first court case in which state law was decreed to be unconstitutional. 

Court case #1 Cohens v. Virginia

Judicial Review was a form of separation of powers where actions by the legislative and executive branches are subject to review and can be invalidated by the Judicial Branch. This power is stated in the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution (Article 4 clause 2) which basically says that state laws are not supposed to violate the Constitution and all state courts must uphold the national law. They also decide the constitutionality of state laws under state constitutions. If state constitutions contradict the Constitution, or any other national law, the state constitution must follow the guidelines of the constitution. The highest state court to decide issues like these is the supreme court. The idea of judicial review was established in the Marbury v. Madison in 1803.

Cohens v Virginia was a court case that took place in Virginia in 1821. The Cohen brothers were illegally selling DC Lottery tickets in Commonwealth in Virginia. The United States Congress had authorized the selling of lottery tickets in the District of Columbia. State authorities tried and convicted the Cohens, and were fined $100. In this case, the Cohens were successfully prosecuted by the state of Virginia for selling lottery tickets from D.C. in Virginia, who were therefore violating Virginia state law. John Marshal chief justice of the Supreme Court maintained the state’s original decision however the larger issue the court had dealt with in their decision making was that of reviewing state court cases.

The Supreme Court under John Marshal practiced judicial nationalism which meant that its decisions favored the federal government at the expense of states. The Supreme Court decided to validate its ruling with Article 3 section 2 of the Constitution along with the Supremacy Clause Article 6 was used to reinforce their decision which made federal law superior to state law. Virginia, however, decided that this was unacceptable and declared the decision the Supreme Court made null and void, even though it had upheld the previous conviction, because Virginia felt the ruling limited its rights as a state.