Focusing on nineteenth-century social reform, this volume considers the moment of decision for representative Americans, the moment that converted them to action, altered their identity, and in some instances altered the historical context in which the decision was made.

Focusing primarily on 19th-century social reform, political issues, or intellectual issues, the essays in this collection all consider the historical moment in the lives of representative 19th-century, and one family of 19th- and 20th-century, Americans. Each of these Americans experienced a moment of decision that converted them to action and altered their lives and identities thereafter. All the essays examine the moments of decision within regional and social contexts. In three separate sections, the volume looks at the role of identity within the southern regional context, antislavery and moral reform within the antebellum northern regional context, and the response to emancipation.