When oldest sister Catharine (sometimes spelled Catherine) Beecher (1800 – 1878) published A Treatise on Domestic Economy for the Use of Young Ladies At Home and At School in 1841, she became one of the first Americans to publicly promote a systematic approach to running a household.

Catharine Beecher was a nineteenth century proponent of women’s rights and education for women. While she did not advocate a radical change in women’s roles, she did fight for increased recognition of the importance of the work women did in managing homes and raising families.

A member of a prominent activist and religious family, Catharine Esther Beecher was a nineteenth century teacher and writer who promoted equal access to education for women and advocated for their roles as teachers and mothers.

What did Catherine Beecher do to expose the injustices in textile mills? Went undercover in a textile mill in massachusetts to investigate the working conditions.

More mills led to overproduction, which led to a drop in prices and profits. Mill owners reduced wages and speeded up the pace of work. The young female operatives organized to protest these wage cuts in 1834 and 1836. Cutting down the wages was not their only grievance, nor the only cause of this strike.

Early industrial factories and mines created numerous health risks, and injury compensation for the workers did not exist. Machinery accidents could lead to burns, arm and leg injuries, amputation of fingers and limbs, and death. However, diseases were the most common health issues that had long-term effects.

A Presbyterian minister, leading revivalist and social reformer, Lyman Beecher helped build the organizations that became known as the “benevolent empire” and gave religion in America its distinctive voluntary stamp. In 1810, Beecher became the pastor of the Congregational Church of Litchfield, Conn.

He was fitted for college by the Rev. Thomas W. Bray, and at the age of eighteen entered Yale College, graduating in 1797. He spent 1798 in Yale Divinity School under the tutelage of his mentor Timothy Dwight.

Alcoholics were characterized as dangerous to themselves, their families, and even their nation’s security. In the words of temperance advocate Lyman Beecher, a drunk electorate would “dig the grave of our liberties and entomb our glory.”

The earliest temperance reformers were concerned with the overindulgence of American drinkers and encouraged moderation. By 1830, the average American older than 15 consumed at least seven gallons of alcohol a year. Alcohol abuse was rampant, and temperance advocates argued that it led to poverty and domestic violence.