Reform Movements Of The Nineteenth Century Reform movements play a crucial role in the development and shaping of a nation’s history. Between the Revolutionary War and 1850, numerous reform movements occurred in the United States, which have altered society and American ideals. Three reforms in particular have led to the evolution of American society. Prohibition, women’s right, and antislavery movements had a large impact on the history of the United States. The prohibition movement, or temperance, as it was then called, was perhaps the most widespread reform of the time period. During the