Second Great Awakening 1800-1840 What Was It? • • • • • • • New religious revivalism Mostly in the rural areas of New England, Middle States, and Western areas of the U.S. Camp-meetings --25, 000 at some gatherings Energetic and emotional; based on revelation and faith conversion Faith over reason Very democratic in nature Majority were women slaves working class Spread by itinerant preachers Burned-Over District Second Great Awakening: Causes o o o o o o Secularism of the American Revolution Scientific attacks on religion: the Enlightenment Poor church attendance New England: attacks on Puritan pre-destination Apparent absence of God in daily lives Market Revolution: The New Materialism The Intensity of SGA 1831 Camp Meetings Abolitionist Meetings Cane Ridge Revival (1801) "The noise was like the roar of Niagara. The vast sea of human beings seemed to be agitated as if by a storm. I counted seven ministers, all preaching at one time, some on stumps, others in wagons and one standing on a tree which had, in falling, lodged against another. At one time I saw at least five hundred swept down in a moment as if a battery of a thousand guns had been opened upon them, and then immediately followed shrieks and shouts that rent the very heavens. Kentucky Week long; 25,000 attendees - James Finley, later a Methodist circuit rider Why Did It Catch On? o o o o o o Upheaval caused by the market revolution Expanding transportation network Western expansion: Lack of religion Expanding slave population Economic uncertainty caused by Panics of 1819 & 1837 Expanding middle class Second Great Awakening: A Comparison First Great Awakening God Granted Salvation Sinful nature of humans Incapacity to change behavior “Fire and Brimstone” Predestination Spawned colleges Second Great Awakening • • • • • • • • Individuals controlled salvation Innate goodness of humanity Rejected predestination Capacity to change behavior Stressed personal accountability Spread and expanded religion Emotional connection God Also spawned colleges George Finney Most prominent and dynamic preacher of the Second Awakening Began preaching in 1829 in Upper New York Impact Dramatically increased church attendance Expanded Christianity Baptists Methodists Provided for public participation for women: social outlet for middle class Emphasized the importance of religion for slaves Emphasized the importance of missionary work amongst the Indians and foreign nations Emphasized the importance of missionary work amongst the Indians and foreign nations Spawned reform movements: Attempts at perfection: individuals and society Reform Abolitionism Reform Temperance Reform Treatment of Mentally Ill Dorothea Dix Reform Prison Reform Reform Utopian Experiments Reform Education Reform Status of Women Reform Juvenile Crime Reform Diet & Nutrition