In the mid-to-late 1800s, a great moral reform movement swept the American nation. Men, women, slaves, people who had never been allowed to influence the religious sector of the Nation now stood up and made their voices heard. A history of patriots says: “There were transformations in attitudes regarding social relationships, health, prisons, education, and the status of African-American women and slaves…. [This] turned into a substantial Jacksonian reform movement.” This moral reform movement was guided by three main beliefs, or Isms. These were communalism, feminism, and abolitionism, which led us directly to the Civil War. Without the dissent caused by these new movements, it is quite possible that the civil war would not have broken out until much later. it is communalism, or systems of practically autonomous local communities. There were hundreds of these little utopian societies infested with moral reform. A Patriots History shows that “the most successful communes were rooted in religious fundamentalism. Like Hopedale communalist Adin Ballou, religious utopians believed that man was governed by the “Law of God,” written in his heart, without the aid of external constraints.” Communalism required moral reform to succeed. Bronson Alcott and Charles Lane's 1834 failed within a year, and George Ripley's Brook Farm and other townships similarly collapsed or were forced to substantially alter their plans. Among the societies that supported communalism were many authors: Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), Henry David Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller. Bronson Alcott and many others advocated a community system. The history of the Patriots reveals that utopian thinkers' "quest for freedom led them to... middle of paper... rapid social changes combined with the impending crisis of slavery to foment a search for salvation and perfection." The moral reform movements of the mid-to-late 1800s were a cultural storm, resulting in a war of dissent and unspeakable horrors. This movement was fueled by the three Isms, Communalism, Feminism and Abolitionism. Thousands of utopian communities dotted the landscapes, for the first time women stood up and declared what their rights were, and men and women in the North and South stood firm in an abolitionist vision of slavery. A cultural storm was brewing; a dissension that would not be satisfied until it had blood. A civil war was brewing. Works Cited1. Schweikart,. and Larry and Allen, Michael. A history of the United States patriots from Columbus's great discovery to the war on terrorism. New York; Penguins group 2004. 1-87