The 19th-century reform movement based on the belief that Christians have a responsibility to help improve working conditions and alleviate poverty is known as what?

• A. Progressive Era
• B. Social Gospel Movement
• C. Temperance Movement
• D. Gospel of Wealth

Answer: (B)

The idea being tested is applying Christian ethics to social reform in late 1800s America. The Social Gospel Movement held that Christians had a duty to address urban poverty and poor working conditions by backing reforms that would improve wages, workplace safety, housing, health care, and education. It tied faith to public policy and social services, influencing later Progressive Era reforms.

This movement is distinct from the Temperance Movement, which focused on restricting or banning alcohol; from the Gospel of Wealth, which argued that the wealthy should use their wealth philanthropically but isn’t a religious reform movement; and from the Progressive Era as a broad period of reform, which isn’t defined by a religious-based mission.