The major reform movements of the early 19th century include such movements as women's suffrage (Calhoun 400)n which assayed to bring women the right to vote; temperance, which attempted to eliminate the drinking of alcoholic beverages; and antislavery/abolition (Calhoun 392), which tried to abolish slavery. The Luddite movement aimed at destroying new textile machines was relatively short-lived and was largely a response to the fact that some people perceived the new technology as responsible for eliminating jobs, (Anissimov, 2010) but the other movements were true social reform movements that had longevity and impact.
These movements shared some assumptions and problem-solving strategies because they were all social movements that arose to mitigate social injustices. "Social movements provide weapons for the powerless," and as such they bring together people to create a context for the poor and the abused, who may not have any institutions established to advocate for them (Rosenthal, Fingrutd, Ethier, Karant, & McDonald 1022). The survival strategies that these underdogs need are the same as those needed by organizations that are a more integral and well accepted part of society-"money, publicity, expertise...sympathetic publics...and communication networks" (Rosenthal, Fingrutd, Ethier, Karant, & McDonald 1023). For this reason, social movements tend to occur in conjunction with other social movements and to ally themselves with groups that can help and support them (Rosenthal, Fingrutd, Ethier, Karant, & McDonald 1023).
According to Curtis and Zurcher, social movements are in reality networks comprised of many organizations (Rosenthal, Fingrutd, Ethier, Karant, & McDonald 1023). Moreover, it appears that the networking of social groups among each other has been critical to ensure their growth and development (Rosenthal, Fingrutd, Ethier, Karant, & McDonald 1024). These social movements had to conn...