'We are reformers in spring and summer, in autumn and winter we stand by the old; reformers in the morning, conservatives at night. Reform is affirmative, conservatism is negative; conservatism goes for comfort, reform for truth.'
--Ralph Waldo Emerson
The time period of 1790-1860 can be characterized as an age of reform and rebirth. The character of an American emerged. No longer was an American symbolized as solely a war hero or politician, now there were scholars, scientists, and artists. This idea of reform and rebirth occurred in response to many altercations, although mainly rest…