The Second
Great Awakening
Unit 8, Journal #1
What purpose
does religion
serve?
 Provide specific examples…If
you yourself are religious, give
us a personal example/story.
 Please keep responses
appropriate and respectful.
Remember:
 American society is beginning to change…and
fast.
 What are some things that have been changing
thus far?
 Westward expansion
 Sectionalism vs. Nationalism
 Jacksonians- power of the “common man”
 Rise of abolition…due to?
 …What else?
The Second Great Awakening
 A religious, evangelical and revival movement
peaking in the 1820s.
 New Christian sects emerge, others grow in
number.
 4 Key Aspects of Evangelicalism:
1. The need for personal conversion
2. High regard for biblical authority
3. Emphasis on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
4. Actively expressing and sharing the gospel
What allowed this movement to
begin?
 Secularism replaces formal religion by the end of the
18th century
 Definition: a system of political or social philosophy that rejects
all forms of religious faith and worship.
 Government > Devotion to God.
 BUT, out of the changing society, many Americans seek
a stable force – return to religion!
 Why? What is the driving force to want to return to religion?
Second Great Awakening:
Background
 Religion becomes much more democratic.
 ANYONE could participate, regardless of status.
 Shift from predestination to free will.
 Sense of personal morality increases.
 PEOPLE CAN IMPROVE THEMSELVES!!!
 Though God is still the ultimate authority, you are in charge of
your own destiny.
 Revivals begin in Kentucky and Tennessee and moves
rapidly out west – why here?!
Camp Meetings
 Camp meetings were a crucial part of this revival
movement.
 Church gathering, outdoors, with a stage and a crowd in front of
it.
 People gathered by the thousands to listen to a circuit rider
preach the gospel.
 People sought to establish a personal and emotional
connection with God.
 Many conversions occur at these camp meetings.
 Revivalism flourishes:
 1800: 1 in 15 belonged to a church
 1850: 1 in 6 belonged to a church
1839, Methodist Camp Meeting
“The power increased during the
whole meeting. … Triumphing, …
weeping, people falling, the voice of
joy and sorrow mingling, prayer, praise,
and shouting, shouting, shouting filled
the groves around.”
– William Thatcher, participant, 1804.
Charles Finney, “Stewardship”
 When Charles Finney preached, his
listeners shrieked, moaned, and
fainted.

The most famous preacher of his era.

Inspired emotional religious faith.

The “father of modern revivalism”
 Please read and answer questions
regarding the sermon Finney gives.
Unit 8, Journal #2
 How can a push towards personal responsibility lead to
change?
 When/How has this occurred in your lifetime?
TRANSCENDENTALISM
Outside Rules:
 Beauty in nature
 Pride
 Truth found in personal emotions
 We are small in the grand scheme of the nation
 If we are to take on a religious and emotional shift, what is
likely to follow?
Growth of REFORM
 Second Great Awakening: Personal duty to God, to uphold
His word and the morals associated with the faith.
 Transcendentalism:
 KEEP IN MIND!
 Industrial Growth
 Increasing Migration and Immigration
 New Means of Communication