The antebellum period in America was one of rapid change. With the ideals of Romanticism at hand, people were in the frame of mind to improve society in order to reach this state of perfection that according to the movement was indeed attainable. American reform movements between 1820 and 1860 reflected both optimistic and pessimistic views of human nature and society with regards to education, temperance, and women’s rights. There were great efforts for education reform between 1820 and 1860. Horace Mann of Massachusetts was one such leader of education reform.In Massachusetts, he restructured thee educational system so that the school year was longer and educators were better paid. Moreover, by the 1950’s there were tax funded elementary schools in existence in many states. However,only seventy-two percent of white children in the North were actually enrolled in school. In the South the figures were more dismal; about one-third of white children were enrolled in school and blacks had no opportunity to be. In addition, some teachers of this time period were barely literate.
