1. Religious Revivalism and Utopian Idealism

2. Second Great Awakening
1797 – 1859
1st Awakening had occurred in the 1740s
2nd began among frontier farmers of Kentucky
Spread among Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians
Christians have a moral duty to improve society
Let God in and gain admission to heaven through acts of faith

3. Charles G. Finney 1792 – 1875 Presbyterian minister
Allowed women to participate in public prayer
Taught that everyone has the ability to gain salvation through repentance and good works that demonstrate faith
Planned and rehearsed his revivals

4. Tent Revivals
Traveling ministers would set up tents and preach, often for up to a week at the time
Singing, prayers, and motivational sermons, were all designed to whip up the crowd into emotional protestations of faith

5. Lyman Beecher 1775 – 1863 Revivalist Presbyterian minister
Father of Harriet Beecher Stowe
Preached that citizens, not government ,are responsible for building a better society
Strongly nativist and anti-Catholic

6. Benevolent societies
Developed in large cities and towns to spread Protestant Christianity
Soon began to focus on social issues such as temperance, prison reform, education reform, and abolitionism

7. “True Womanhood” Sometimes called “The Cult of Domesticity”
Woman’s responsibility to be homemakers and to raise children of good character
Women are more moral and charitable than men; models of piety and virtue to their children and husbands
Implied that wives were their husbands social equals and their moral superiors
Can’t build a moral home in a corrupt society, so women assumed role of social activists

8. Revivalism and abolition
Most revivalists were also staunch supporters of the abolitionist movement
Taught that slavery was sinful; slavery destroys the soul of the master while it destroys the body of the slave

9. The Unitarians
Jesus not the Son of God, but was an important teacher – there were no Virgin Birth, no miracles, and no Resurrection
God is a unity, not a trinity (God is One)
Still considered a Christian church

10. The Universalists
Believed in Universal salvation – there is no Hell and God redeems everyone because He loves everyone
God would not create a person knowing that they were doomed to eternal damnation

11. The Mormons Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Started in New York, but were victims of constant harassment
Moved to Ohio, then Missouri, then the town of Commerce, Illinois in 1839
Renamed the town Nauvoo
After founder’s murder in 1844, Mormons resettled in Utah

12. Joseph Smith
1805 – 1844
Recorder of The Book of Mormon – received from an angel – which describes how Israelites arrived in America around 600 BC and were later visited by Jesus
Had numerous legal run-ins in Missouri and Illinois which eventually led to his arrest
Murdered by a mob in 1844 while awaiting trial

13. Brigham Young 1801 – 1877 President of Mormon church from 1847 -1877
Founded Salt Lake City, Utah
1st Governor of Utah
Led the Mormons west to Utah to escape persecution
Practiced polygamy, had 55 wives

14. Utopian Communities
Attempts to establish socially perfect communities, usually through equal communal sharing of all work, responsibilities and rewards

15. New Harmony, Indiana
Town was bought in 1824 by utopians under Robert Owen with the intention of building it into a perfect socialist community
No private property, no money
Community failed and was dissolved in 1829

16. Oneida Community, NY
Founded by John Noyes in 1848 in Oneida, NY; lasted until 1881
All members of the community shared in work (making silverware)
Every man was married to every woman in the community (called complex marriage or free love)
Old women introduced young men to sex, while old men did the same for young women (to avoid pregnancies)
Efforts were made to breed more perfect children by careful selection of breeding partners; children were then raised by the community rather than by specific parents
Community reached maximum size of about 300, but still managed to produce Two men who would assassinate US presidents! (Garfield & McKinley)

17. Brook Farm Founded in 1841, near west Roxbury, MA
Transcendentalist community
Citizens would share all labor, be each others intellectual stimulation
Community collapsed economically after being destroyed by fire in 1847

18. Shakers The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing
Founded by Ann Lee (who Shakers believed to be the Second Appearing of Christ) in England; offshoot of the Quakers
No marriage allowed, lifelong celibacy required
Shakers would adopt orphans to keep communities alive
All work and living quarters were divided by sex, but the sexes were equals
Peaked in mid 1800s with about 6000 members, today only 3 known practitioners in the US