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​Mother Ann Lee of the Shakers The most important period of Ann Lee's life would have to have been when she decided to travel to America to escape religious prosecution in England. This is her most important period because she brought the Shakers beliefs to America which affected over 6,000 people's lives. Mother Ann Lee along with many of her relatives settled in Albany and developed the Shaker church. It is because that they settled in a growing and developing area that their religion was able to grow. Without this period in Ann Lee's life, the Shaker religion might not have been introduced to America or might not have been as properous at a different time period.  William and Nancy Lee could both help proove that Ann Lee was strongly involved in the reforming effort during her time alive. William, Lee's brother, and Nancy, Lee's neice, were both fellow Shakers and traveled to America with her. As well as being closely related to Lee, they were both fellow Shakers and could help explain the reasoning for their reformation attempt.
 * References:**

**Explain the methods the person or group used to improve American life. Be sure to provide examples**—The Shakers allowed men and women to do the same things as each other, showing that women were just as capable as men. Men and Women made leather, sold herbs and garden seeds, made applesauce, wove linens, knitted underwear, and made furniture. By keeping this image of equallity the Shakers, both men and women, cut their hair in the same manner, but women wore different colors from the men.
 * Describe the criticisms of American society the individual or group made and what goals they hoped to achieve—**The Shakers believed that men and women should be treated equally and that men and women are capable of doing the same things. Their practice separated men from women in everyday activities (including sitting on opposite sides of rooms, using different doors, using different staircases) and they believed that races should be equal as well. They hoped to achieve equallity of women and races to the white men in America.
 * Evaluate the successes the individual or group had in promoting the reform—**The Shakers when they came to America were relatively effective in reforming people to their cause for the consideration that the original Shakers were very small in numbers. The largest amount of Shakers at one point in time would be about 6,000 people.
 * Discuss the intent to which the goals and methods used by the individual or group were practical in this time period**—By allowing both men and women to make various products together, their region maintained a level of economic wealth, with in turn allowed more people to convert to the Shaker belief. After the Civil War however, the Shaker goods became more expensive than the average industry product.
 * Determine ways in which you think that the federal government, specifically the president, could advance the goals of your movement (i.e. money, government support, proposing legislation, preventing harassment)—**The Shakers would like the government to help prevent harassment on their beliefs, and would appreciate it if the government would allow the Quakers to continue adopting children for they are the main way of adding believers to the religion.
 * AFTER THE DEBATE***** Discuss the lasting impact the reforms proposed by your individual or group had on American society—**The Shakers didn’t have a very lasting impact with their reforms for they began the decreases in number over the years. The belief that women and different races should be treated as well as a white man did in fact come to be, but it was inevitable.

The Quakers goals were in fact accomplished, but not so much because of the Shakers. Women began to receive their rights after the year 1848. As for the different races receiving equality, it was accomplished, but once again the Shakers were not the cause. The different races, notably African Americans, began to receive their rights during the American Civil War.
 * When and if your goals have been accomplished:**

Mother Ann Lee actually died before Andrew Jackson came into office, in the year 1784 at the age of 48.
 * When you die:**

The heyday for the Shakers occurred after Mother Ann Lee’s death in the year 1837. This heyday lasted for ten years during which people, mainly women, experienced visions from the heavenly spirits. This time period was referred to as the Era of Manifestations.
 * The heyday of your movement:**

"IHAS: Artist/Movement/Ideas." //PBS//. Web. 06 Oct. 2009. . "Mother Ann Lee: Biography from Answers.com." //Answers.com - Online Dictionary, Encyclopedia and much more//. Web. 06 Oct. 2009. . "Mother Ann Lee Biography from Who2.com." //Biographies from Who2.com//. Web. 06 Oct. 2009. .
 * Bibilography:**