1. The Second Great Awakening - 1790
Leyang Bai, Yuhui Lee, Sunny Lu, Belle Hsu

2. Origins Began in late 1700s; early 1800s Initially in Kentucky Causes:
Americans’ lack in church attendance
People believed that God did not care for his followers’ attendance, he only valued the way they lived their lives
People focused on work and earning money
Reaction to Secularism
Took two forms:
Social activism
New Denominations

3. Religious denominations
Hundreds converted their religions in weeks and churches gained thousands of new converts
Evangelicaling of the west
Conviction that God’s “good news” of salvation through Christ should be offered to everyone and that Christians should lead others to salvation
Charles Grandison Finney
Former attorney of law who turned to preaching, inspired hundreds of converts at each of his evangelical revivals
Camp Meetings: church pastors preached their religion to large groups in the frontier for days due to the absence of established churches
A majority being female converts, as well as large numbers of African Americans

4. Religious dENominations (continued)
Major Evangelical revival locations
New York’s “Burned Over District”
Burned over after no people left to convert (no “fuel” to burn)
Kentucky

5. Religious dENominations (Continued)
Methodists
Circuit Riders: Common people that preached religion in the frontier
Baptists
Ordinary citizens or farmers form congregations and become ordained as ministers or priests
Formation of new denominations boomed as colonists were not satisfied by premade religions
Church of Later Day Saints – Mormonism
Founded by Joseph Smith, author of the Book of Mormon in April 6, 1830
Believes in God’s plan of salvation as well as existence of prophets and follows unique rituals and practices, including the practice of having more than one wife
Migrated West due to religious persecution from Protestants and Catholics
Unitarianism
Thrived in America in the 1800s
Disproved that God is a trinity
New churches began to form that shared the belief

6. Transcendentalism
Belief in the listening of nature and the human conscience to learn about the universe instead of religious doctrines
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Leading Transcendentalist
Gave sermons to motivate others to follow his beliefs
Henry David Thoreau
Transcendentalist believing in the following conscience instead of devotion to the law
Inspired the idea of Civil Disobedience

7. Impacts Utopian Society Significant decrease in crime
Communities are created featuring sharing of land, family, and possessions.
Focus on lower class
Unification in the Frontier
Members created idealistic utopias to inspire the virtue of others
Increase in abolitionists
Generally unsuccessful
Aggravated the slavery debate between the North and the South
Banning of alcohol and prostitution
Increased church membership
New religion sects
Spawned large reform movements

8. Political cartoon
Audience swoon while Methodist minister gives his sermon at a camp meeting
Watercolor by J. Maze Burbank, (Old Dartmouth Historical Society-New Bedford Whaling Museum)

9. Political cartoon
Based on principles of the Second Great Awakening: people must lead moral and righteous lives
Alcohol leads to violence and crime. Hence, they should be banned
From the collection of American Antiquarian Society

10. Primary source
Excerpt from Baxter "Moral and Religious" in the New Hampshire Sentinel 1831: “I have thought much upon the subject of duty, as respects weekly meetings—and more especially since I have read numerous accounts of what are called four days’ meetings. I wish to conform as much as possible to the opinions of good men around me, but have been somewhat perplexed to know what to do. The direction not to be conformed to this world, has led me to inquire whether frequent weekly meetings, and the setting apart FOUR DAYS in succession, were the commands of God, or the inventions of men. While ruminating upon the subject, as I was pitching off the last load of hay for the season, neighbor Meanwell called at the barn and told me Mr ---- was going to preach on Wednesday evening, that there would be a lecture on Friday afternoon, and that on Tuesday a four days’ meeting would commence, when all the neighboring ministers would be present—no doubt many would come in from other towns, and he hoped I would not fail to attend, with my family. I thanked him for his information, and entered into conversation on various subjects, until my load of hay was safely deposited, when we sat down on the sill, and talked over the subject”.

11. Sources http://www.uua.org/beliefs/history/6903.shtml
awakening.php
Textbook pg