Health Reform during the antebellum era
The process of transformation in the first half of the nineteenth century in the United States involved social，economic，geographic，technological，and religious changes，and，in turn，these changes shaped the health and sportmovement of antebellum America.The United States strove to define itself as a separate nation，with its own customs and culture，and sport became a part of this cultural expression.
Political officials in the new republic urged people to engage in sport for physical well-being and invigorating exercise，rather than for wagers or profit seeking.During the Antebellum Era，reform campaignswere fueled by the Second Great Awakening4，a spiritual fervor spread in revival settings in which many Americans experienced a zeal for religion.In this religiousmovement，antebellum health reformers usually linked physical health with moral and spiritual health.One's spiritual well-being went hand in hand with one's physical well-being.
6-11 Dr.William A.Alcott
Dr.William A.Alcott（1798—1859）wrote numerous books and manuals urging bothmen and women to reform theirways in order to achieve bodily health and pursue sports that he deemed morally appropriate.His popular works—including The Young Man's Guide，The Young Woman's Guide，the Library ofHealth，and The Laws of Health：addressed health，hygiene，sport，and recreation.Thomas Wentworth Higginson，health reformer and advocate of vigorous sporting activity，proclaimed the moral and physical benefits of sport for Americans in the vibrant period of change in antebellum American culture.Higginson linked morality and muscles，especially formen，as key preparation for filling their roles in a democratic nation.Higginson and other likeminded antebellum reformers campaigned for causes including education reform，abolitionism，woman's rights，and temperance.These reformers expressed nationalism in seeking to establish a populacemade up of strong，vital，and moral citizens in order to advance the young democratic nation and to counter criticism that the United Stateswas a nation ofweak，puny，nonathletic citizenswhen compared with those of England and other countries，activists such as Higginson touted health reform and strove to promote gender-based physical training formen and women.