Asylum/Prison Reform

By the mid-19th century, thousands of Americans holding a variety of philosophical positions had joined together to fight the various social issues that troubled the nation. Some reformers focused their attention on schools and other institutions. The prisons were reformed by including the following: prison libraries, basic literacy (for Bible reading), reduction of whipping and beating, commutation of sentences, and separation of women, children and the sick.

A prison in the 1800s