the Second Great Awakening the Second Great Awakening was a religious revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States it began in about 1790 and lasted till about 1840 it started as a reaction to the growth in popularity of Science and rationalism and to the growing liberalism in religion Timothy Dwight became president of Yale College Yale was seen as a center of secular thought but Dwight supported sermons that brought religious revival to Yale student body and the word spread the Second Great Awakening portrayed God as a benevolent and compassionate ruler who wanted salvation for man rather than as an angry vengeful God the movement spread through camp meetings it was during these camp meetings that you saw people speaking in tongues or having convulsive fits due to religious ecstasy these physical signs and conversions further fueled the religious seal that was consuming the country Awakening spread the ranks of various Christian denominations from Baptist to Methodist and many new denominations began Charles grandison finny was an American Presbyterian Minister and leader in the second grade awakening he's been called the father of modern revivalism Peter cartright was a Methodist revivalist in the midwest who helped start the second grade awakening personally baptizing 12,000 converts reform movements were born in the aftermath of the Revival as anti-slavery movements women's suffrage and Temperance Rose along with the wave of piety you know now about the Second Great Awakening