Second Great Awakening

1790 to early 1800s

A series of religious revivals starting in 1801, based on Methodism and Baptism. Stressed a religious philosophy of salvation through good deeds and tolerance for all Protestant sects. The revivals attracted women, Blacks, and Native Americans. It also had an effect on moral movements such as prison reform, the temperance movement, and moral reasoning against slavery.

best known of the Methodist traveling frontier preachers; ill-educated, strong servant of the Lord who spent 50 years traveling from Tennessee to Illinois while calling upon sinners to repent; converted thousands with his bellowing voice and flailing arms; physically knocked out those who tried to break up his meetings

An evangelist who was one of the greatest preachers of all time (spoke in New York City). He also made the "anxious bench" for sinners to pray and was was against slavery and alcohol. One of the most famous preachers of the movement was Charles Finney. Finney's sermons helped to change the way people looked at how God judged their lives, Finney taught that what people did during their lives mattered to God, and through good deeds and an acceptance of God's salvation they would be 'born again' and able to go to heaven.

social reformer who campaigned for womens rights, the temperance, and was an abolitionist, helped form the National Woman Suffrage Association

1805-1879. Prominent American abolitionist, journalist and social reformer. Editor of radical abolitionist newspaper "The Liberator", and one of the founders of the American Anti-Slavery Society.

She was an American writer famous for Uncle Tom's Cabin, which was about the blackness of American slavery. Acclaimed in Europe and the North, the book furthered the abolitionist movement, and it was a cause of the Civil War.

A brilliant idealist and secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, he proposed the construction of better school houses, longer school terms, higher pay for teachers, and an expanded curriculum. His influence spread to other states and education in America was steadily improved.

To contribute to the education reform in America at the time, he provided improved text books. He was known as the "Schoolmaster of the Republic" and his books used by millions of children were partially designed to promote patriotism. He spent twenty years developing his notable dictionary, published in 1828, that aided the standardization of the American language. His efforts changed education in the US greatly and the pride of the nation grew

An inspiring woman, she worked to better the treatment of the mentally ill and succeeded through her petition in 1843 to the Massachusetts legislature. Through first-hand experiences, she told of the terrible conditions of the insane asylums the mentally ill were forced to stay in. Her nonviolent actions and persistence were rewarded and the conditions were improved. Because of her effort, society came to realize that those people weren't abnormal on their own accord, but that they were in fact ill.

Charles Grandison Finney Lyman Beecher Barton Stone Peter Cartwright James B. Finley.

This was a protestant revival there was a membership that rose rapidly among Baptist and Methodist congregations whose preachers led the movement.

First ~ promotes hate more and isn't as angry Second ~ God promotes love First ~ focuses on promoting religion Second ~ focuses less on religion and more on fixing the bad things in America Women's rights to vote and education were promoted in the second great awakening

Thomas Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase lead to the movement of people west, this impacted their religious beliefs because they were no longer focused on religion rather than the future of the US as a whole ad their valuables. Also, churches weren't able to move with the settlers during their migration, leading them to lose their faith.

After the Revolutionary War, in which America won its independence from Great Britain, the people of America had a religious awakening that traded the old beliefs of England for new American values. This movement, which started around the early 1800s and lasted through the 1840s, was called the Second Great Awakening. Specifically, Methodists and Baptists began an effort to democratize religion. The Second Great Awakening was led by powerful preachers who held large revivals, which were like outdoor concerts that featured sermons instead of bands. These revivals were held throughout the American colonies and drew thousands of people

In the beginning of the Second Great Awakening, preachers brought their message to the people with great fanfare and excitement in the form of a traveling revivals. In the beginning, these focused on the Appalachian frontier. The Baptists were highly decentralized with no hierarchical structure in place. Preachers lived and worked amongst their congregation. The Methodists, on the other hand, had more of an internal structure in place. Individual preachers like Francis Asbury and Peter Cartwright would travel the frontier converting people to the Methodist faith. They were quite successful and by the 1840s were the largest Protestant group in America.

The height of the Second Great Awakening came in the 1830s. There was a great increase of churches across the nation, particularly across New England. The most significant revivalist in this area was Charles Grandison Finney who was ordained in 1823. In 1839, Finney was preaching in Rochester resulting in approximately 100,000 converts. One key change he made was in promoting mass conversions during revival meetings.

Joseph Smith lived in upstate New York when he received visions in 1820. A few years later, he found the Book of Mormon, which he said was a lost section of the Bible. He soon founded his own church and began converting people to his faith.

It pushed the idea of individual salvation and free will over predestination. It greatly increased the number of Christians both in New England and on the frontier. Revivals and public conversions became social events that continue to this day. Mormonism was founded and led to their settlement in Salt Lake City, Utah.