How Did Dorothea Dix Impact Society

When one thinks of the Civil War, they normally think of the generals or the soldiers actually fighting in the battles. But what about the people behind the scenes? Who cared for these soldiers and brave men before, during, and after battles? Clara Barton is one of the most honored women in American history exactly for this. She is known as the Angel of the Battlefield.

At the start of the Civil War, she reached out to the Surgeon General for the Union Army in hope of obtaining an assistant position for a field surgeon, but she was rejected because of her gender. As a result, Dr. Walker moved to Indiana where she volunteered her medical services at a hospital. She received a second Doctor of Medicine degree in 1862 and volunteered for the Union Army in that same year (Irizarry

Questions for Days 131-150: 1. Charles Grandison Finney was an evangelist who was a preacher who helped in religiously reviving Americans. He was the first of the professional evangelists. 2. Dorothea Dix was a crusader who supported mentally impaired people.

Starting with the Great Depression: The Great Depression was a major stock market crash that began in 1929 and went on for several years. People were left with no money and they were forced to sell everything they had, which meant they didn’t have a place to stay and sometimes families would have to separate due to the Great Depression. Afterwards became World War II. WWII may have had an impact on her life and art because it was a hard time for everybody, even for years after. It was a hard time in America, but it created a major change within our country.

Clare Boothe Luce, an editor, playwright, congresswoman, ambassador, and mother, was born in New York City on March 10, 1903. Luce was a woman with vast talent and equally immense ambition. She was highly involved with the history of her times and, as both a leader and celebrity, made a substantial impact not only in America, but on the world. She met with and worked with world leaders and intellectuals at a time when women largely lived behind the scenes. She is noted to have invented the “Pure Success Woman.”

Dorothea Dix Dorothea Dix reformed the conditions of prisoners and the mentally ill. Dorothea had realized that a few prisoners weren't even guilty, they just had mental illnesses. Dorothea´s life work became telling the public about the conditions the inmates were in and also the mentally ill. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott Early on, Elizabeth and Lucrecia had organized a women's rights convention in Seneca Falls.

With the Civil War starting in 1861, Dix became the superintendent of the nurses. She was named the superintendent because of her hardwork and dedication to her people. With her position she was responsible for building first-aid stations, field hospitals, managing supplies, recruiting nurses, and training the new nurses. After the war her main focus was still the mentally ill and she was still traveling around the country helping to renovate and make the hospitals more efficient. Dix was diagnosed with malaria in 1870, she continued to write but eventually was put into the Trenton hospital, a hospital she founded forty years earlier.

The inhumane treatment of the mentally ill in prisons and asylums inspired Dorothea Dix to lead the struggle for reforms, and although she faced opposition,

Clara Barton, founder of American Red Cross, fearlessly risks her life to help rescue soldiers on the battlefield, exemplifying attributes of a heroine. She is a hero in many ways. She often put her life through many great dangers. She dealt with deaths of loved ones, unfair rules against women, and the loss of many jobs because of her gender. She saved many soldiers during the American Civil War, impacted the Women’s suffrage movement greatly by passing a case for women’s rights, and founded The American Red cross, which is ]still useful to this day to help many injured or sick people.

She was a teacher earlier in her life before becoming a leading figure. She was the leading figure in abolishment and the women's voting rights movement. Incarcerated for voting and was imprisoned for a year until her court trial. Unfortunately all great people comes to their deathbed and she died on March 13, 1906.

She asked her students about the harsh conditions they lived under; their answer is what led to her desire to reform mental institutions. Dorothea Dix traveled over 60,000 miles in 8 years gathering information for her reports. These reports brought about changes in treatment. They also revealed that insanity was a disease, not a choice. With her detailed observations, she approached dozens of state legislatures such as: New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Arkansas, Indiana, Illinois, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Maryland,

There was little to no proven means for rehabilitation, and generally, the mentally ill were viewed as useless for society. These unfortunate humans were also forced to house with convicts, despite having never committed a crime. Prompted by prison reform and direct government influence on social welfare in Britain, an American woman named Dorothea Dix sough to bring reform to the prison system within the United States. In 1843, she published a “Memorial to the Legislature of Massachusetts,” which set forth multiple provisions for changes to the penitentiary system in Massachusetts. This document was very significant in the prison reform movement because it was the first of its kind in the United States to describe in detail the poor conditions the insane were forced to live in.

In the 1840’s there was a wave of democratization created after Jackson’s presidency. It was created the value of the common man, and the importance of every person who was in the government. Of course, there were exceptions to this rule as there still certain groups like blacks or women that were viewed as inferior, but the majority of the population felt like they had worth. This led to series of reforms: hospitals for the mentally ill, schools for people with physical disabilities, the temperance movement, and labor unions. This movements fought a better society with better treatment even though there would be no economic incentives to do so.

When thinking of a historical figure, many imagine a president, king, or general that lead a country to greatness, but never realized some could be the ones who influence the minds of society. Although not thought of as anything, writers and poets hold the key to shaping the society’s mindset without even knowing it. Being a civil rights activist, social activist, and role model for women makes Maya Angelou a historical figure who has made a huge impact in American society and in American history. Born poor and black, she was a childhood victim of rape, shamed into silence. She was a young single mother who had to work at strip clubs for a living.

Mary McLeod Bethune has impacted our world in many ways with her education and the way she viewed the world. She was a very educated women and was a part of many associations. She had a huge part in helping the blacks to freedom and even helping the women in America. She was an educator and she even worked with the presidents. She spent a lot of time and effort getting the world to where it is today.