1. Religion and Reform

2. Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States.
Protestant preachers believed Americans had become immoral
These preachers were known as ‘revivalists’ because they felt that religious participation had to be revived.
Membership in the major Protestant churches—Congregational, Presbyterian, Baptist, and Methodist—soared
The Methodist and Baptist churches became the two largest Protestant denominations in the U.S.

3. Second Great Awakening
Movement began on the Kentucky frontier with itinerant preachers (circuit riders) such as Peter Cartwright in outdoor “camp meetings” (Cane Ridge Revival)
Reached northeastern cities by 1820s
Wealthier, better-educated levels of society were not as affected by revivalism (e.g. Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Unitarians).
Poorer communities in the rural South and West were the most affected by religious revivalism.
The slavery issue split Baptists, Methodists, and Presbyterians along sectional lines. (The secession of southern churches foreshadowed the secession of southern states.)

4. Second Great Awakening
Society during the Jacksonian era was undergoing rapid change
Because of the uncertainty of the times reformers sought stability in religion
Church-goers embraced the values of hard work, punctuality, and sobriety
Revivals brought unity, strength and a sense of peace

5. Charles grandison Finney
By the 1820s, the most famous revivalist preacher
Preached passionately and used Evangelical style of worship
Sermons designed to bring about strong emotions and convert people publically to Christianity
Meeting night after night to build excitement
Spoke bluntly; Prayed for sinners by name
Encouraged women to testify in public
Placed those struggling with conversion on the “anxious bench” at the front of the church

6. Lyman Beecher
Traveled and urged people to read the Bible, join a church; In 1832, became president of Lane Technological Seminary in Cincinnati
Many revivalists, like Beecher, preached of a new millennium, a thousand years of glory that would follow the second coming of Christ
Believed that heaven through good works and helping others was possible
Inspired people to become reformers, to make the world a better place in preparation for Christ returning

7. Burned over District
Burned over district in Western NY got its name from a “wild fire of new religions”
Charles Finney preached for 6 months in Rochester and helped 100,000 people convert
The Millerites believed the 2nd coming of Christ would occur on October 22, 1843
Members sold belongings, bought white robes for the ascension into heaven
Believers formed new church on October 23rd Gave birth to Seventh Day Adventists

8. Rise of African American Churches
Revivalism also spread to the African American community
During these revivals Baptists and Methodists converted large numbers of African Americans
This led to the formation of all- black Methodist and Baptist churches, primarily in the North
African Methodist Episcopal (A. M. E.) had over 17,000 members by 1846

9. Reformers pointed out the inequality in society
The Age of Reform
Reformers pointed out the inequality in society
Primarily a Northern movement
Southerners refused reforms to protect slavery
Educated society through newspaper and lyceum meetings

10. The Second Great Awakening + Industrial Revolution +
Cult of Domesticity=Social Reform
Temperance
Education
Abolitionism
Asylum & Prison Reform
Women’s Rights