The Second Great Awakening - Origins and Major Ideas

Overview

The Second Great Awakening was a major religious revival in the early 19th century United States.
It significantly increased church membership and emphasized personal faith, especially among women.
This movement inspired social reforms and democratized religion.

First Great Awakening: Occurred in the 1730s-1740s, focused in New England with Calvinist religious awakenings.
Second Great Awakening: Occurred approximately from 1790 to 1850, with its peak between 1820 to 1840.

Camp Meetings: Central to the movement, these were large gatherings that involved emotional and evangelical preaching.
- Preachers set up "camp meetings", especially in areas without established churches such as Western New York and Kentucky.
- Preachers known as "circuit riders" traveled on horseback to spread evangelical Christianity.
- Emphasized emotional religious experiences and conversion.
Evangelical Christianity: Strong attachment to the Bible and the idea of creating 'heaven on Earth'.
- Influenced by millenarianism, the belief in Jesus Christ's return and a 1,000-year earthly paradise.

Lyman Beecher: Concerned about the secularization of society and advocated for religious revival.
- Father of Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin.
Charles Grandison Finney: Drew large crowds and was progressive in allowing women to preach.

Rejected Calvinist predestination, promoting that personal actions and good works influence salvation.
Religion became democratized, offering salvation to all, including women and people of different races.

Encouraged social reforms and the notion of improving the world.
Attracted many poor people and those on the frontier, not just the elite or educated classes.

The Second Great Awakening was a pivotal movement that shaped American religion and society in the early 19th century.
It set the stage for future social reforms and religious inclusivity.