Can The American Dream "Overcome" The American Nightmare? Or: Why Do Do-Gooders Do The Things They Do?

An Integrated, Interdisciplinary, Thematic Unit on Movements for Social Reform in the United States Movements for social reform have been critically important in the shaping of American history and culture. Movements such as the Civil Rights Movement of African Americans, the Temperance Movement, the Abolition Movement, the Labor Movement, the Religious Tolerance Movement, the Conservation/Environmental Movement, and the Women's Movement, among others, have been critical in determining the directions American society has taken throughout its history. Thus, an understanding of movements for social reform is critical to our students' understanding of American culture as a whole.