Gerrit Smith: Reformer

Gerrit Smith: Reformer. . , The Second Great Awakening (the religious revival of the 1820s) and the ensuing wave of optimism regarding one’s control over one’s own life, sparked the social reform era. The benevolent and philanthropic Gerrit Smith, joined the reform effort by applying his resources of time, oratory, writing and wealth. , Land Reform , Smith believed that every person should own property as a source of pride and power. , – Smith offered ten families in Peterboro who did not own their homes money to buy the property and become homeowners. , – In 1846 Smith divided 120,000 acres into 40 acre land grants for 3000 Black Americans to meet the property requirement for voting. These lands in the Adirondacks for African Americans farmers became known as Timbuctoo. , ”Since they must become landholders, that they may be entitled to vote, they will become landholders.” , Gerrit Smith in Letter to Theodore Wright, November 14, 1846 , . Smith wrote to a client who owed him $227.63 on a land purchase: , ”It is more than you can pay. Hence I give the property to your family. May God bless the gift to you + your wife + children.” , -Gerrit Smith in letter to George Evans, December 2, 1846, Syracuse University Special Collections , . When Smith witnessed the struggles of Elizabeth Torrey, a widow with eight small children, he gave her a deed to a plot of land and then offered to pay for a house to be built. , . In 1847 Smith wrote to fourteen town supervisors in Madison County asking them to choose “seven unmarried, poor, landless, worthy, white women” to whom he could give fifty dollars each to help them buy a home. , Temperance , Temperance reform was a pet issue for Smith throughout his life. He built a Temperance Hotel in Peterboro, and supported political activity that would provide legal enforcement of temperance. , Diet Reform , Smith believed that dietary reform could sharpen ability to be a reformer. In 1840, the dietary specialist Sylvester Graham visited Smith. , Secret Societies , Smith opposed secret societies because he believed that they undemocratically withheld information from the public. , Women’s Rights , Smith’s younger cousin Elizabeth Cary spent summers in Peterboro and met her future husband abolitionist Henry B. Stanton during one of her visits. Elizabeth Cary Stanton wrote of Smith’s influence upon her activism for women’s rights. Susan B. Anthony and Sojouner Truth called upon Smith in Peterboro for support. , Dress Reform , Smith supported his daughter Elizabeth’s trouser outfit which became known as “bloomers.” Smith believed women’s fashions inhibited their ability to achieve equal rights.