A reform movement is the kind of social movement that aims to make gradual change, or change in certain aspects of society, rather than rapid or fundamental changes. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary movements.
The Second Great Awakening was an example of A Reform Movement. The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States. The movement began around 1790, gained momentum by 1800 and, after 1820, membership rose rapidly among Baptist and Methodist congregations whose preachers led the movement.
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery, whether formal or informal. In Western Europeand the Americas, abolitionism is a historical movement to end the African and Indian slave trade and set slaves free. King Charles I of Spain, usually known as Emperor Charles V, following the example of Louis X of France who abolished slavery within the Kingdom of France in 1315, passed a law which would have abolished colonial slavery in 1542, although this law was not passed in the largest colonial states, and so was not enforced. In the late 17th century, the Roman Catholic Church, taking up a plea by Lourenco da Silva de Mendouca, officially condemned the slave trade, which was affirmed vehemently by Pope Gregory XVI in 1839.
Abolitionists were people (especially prior to the Civil War) who advocated or supported the abolition of slavery in the U.S. Also a person who favors the abolition of any law or practice deemed harmful to society:
the abolitionists who are opposed to capital punishment. For example, people like Henry Bibb, Angeline Grimke, Sarah Grimke, Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd, and even Sojourner Truth were amazing, outstanding abolitionist.
Women's suffrage was when the right of women to vote in elections were restricted. Limited voting rights were gained by women in Finland, Iceland, Sweden and some Australian colonies and western U.S. states in the late 19th century. National and international organizations formed to coordinate efforts to gain voting rights, especially the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (founded in 1904, Berlin, Germany), and also worked for equal civil rights for women.
In 1881, the Isle of Man gave women who owned property the right to vote. In 1893, the British colony of New Zealand, granted women the right to vote. The colony of South Australia, did the same in 1894 and women were able to vote in the next election, which was held in 1895.
Prison reform is the attempt to improve conditions inside prisons, establish a more effective penal system, or implement alternatives to incarceration. Prisons have only been used as the primary punishment for criminal acts in the last few centuries. Far more common earlier were various types of corporal punishment, public humiliation, penal bondage, and banishment for more severe offences, as well as capital punishment.