1. Antebellum Reforms

2. Causes Rooted in the Christian sense of mission
Liberation of the human spirit was a Romantic ideal
Expansion of democratic ideals= greater civic duty
Growing middle class (base of the reforms)
Cult of domesticity allows for women to participate in social reforms
AND…the message of the Second Great Awakening

3. The Second Great Awakening
Everyone is capable and deserving of salvation, achievable through faith and good deeds--perfectionism
Charles G. Finney led the revival movement

4. Effects of the 2nd great awakening
New York—burned over district
New, more evangelical denominations such as Baptists and Methodists
Unitarians arose as critics of “uncouth” revivals
Mormons founded & migrated to Utah to avoid persecution
2nd G.A is mostly a reaction against the cold rationalism and debates over Calvinism
Charles Finney plays on emotions, especially fear
Teach hard work and appeal to the middle class
Circuit preaches become popular among Methodists and Baptists
William Miller and the “Millerites” become a sect a millennialists who pose a specific date for Christ’s return
Joseph Smith – founder of Mormonism
Bringham Young – leads them to Salt Lake to escape persecution
Polygamy and racism in early Mormon societies, has been done outlawed today
*Religious revival is prominent mostly in Northern states*
Why? (more urban, response to changing society, South is more static, less education, less interaction because of rural culture)

5. What were the true motives of the reformers?
Were they idealistic humanitarians whose chief goal was to create a just and equitable society?
Were these just attempts by the Protestant Church and the upper & middle class to instill their moral beliefs and control the masses?

6. Consider who, what, and why?
Public education
Prison and asylum reform
Transcendentalism
Utopian communities
Temperance
Abolition
Women’s rights