APUSH 4.10 - The Second Great Awakening

Origins + Major Ideas

What was the period of Religious Revival? (1790-1850)

Second Great Awakening

Market Revolution and Second Great Awakening:

• Individual control: The Market Revolution created a culture where personal initiative and hard work were seen as keys to economic success

• Comfort in uncertainty: The rapid social and economic changes of the Market Revolution were confusing and created anxiety for many. The revival offered a sense of order and purpose

• Moral reform: The belief that individuals could and should reform their lives led directly to a wave of social reform movements like temperance and abolitionism

Church Membership Rising and Second Great Awakening:

• Emotionally engaging sermons: Preachers delivered passionate sermons at camp meetings, creating an emotional environment that encouraged people to have a personal spiritual experience and convert to Christianity

• Shift in theology: The movement promoted the idea that individuals could actively achieve salvation through their own choices and good works

New Religious Movements and Second Great Awakening:

• Emphasis on individualism: The revival promoted the idea that individuals could have a direct, personal relationship with God

• Desire for religious perfection: Many new groups were formed by those who felt that established churches weren't living up to the revival's ideals

• Social reform connection: The revival also spurred social reform movements

Reform Movements and Second Great Awakening:

• Emphasis on personal and social responsibility: Unlike earlier religious movements, the Second Great Awakening taught that individuals could choose to live a holy life

• Belief in creating a better world: Many who participated in the revivals believed that by acting on their faith, they could help create a more perfect society on Earth

Social Changes and Second Great Awakening:

• Individual salvation and reform: The revival promoted the idea that individuals could achieve salvation through good works and personal change

• Empowerment and new roles: The populist, individualistic spirit of the awakening gave more people, including women and the working class, a sense of personal power and agency

• New religious denominations: The revival also led to the growth of denominations like the Baptists and Methodists

What year did the Americans declare independence?

1776

What year did Jefferson become president?

1800

What year did Jackson become president?

1862

What year did the Mexican War start?

1848

Describe what Evangelical Christianity stood for during the Great Awakening.

• “Heaven on Earth”

• Individual salvation: All people are born as sinners and must seek salvation by confessing their sins

• Focus on conversion: Preaching was often highly targeted toward the conversion of the "lost"

What is millenarianism?

The belief in a coming, fundamental transformation of society that will result in a utopian age.

What were large, multi-day, outdoor religious gatherings popular during the Second Great Awakening, which featured fervent preaching, singing, and prayer?

Camp Meetings

Who were traveling preachers, often young and self-taught, who spread Christianity across the American frontier?

Circuit Raiders

Who was a prominent American Presbyterian minister and a key leader of the Second Great Awakening and was a major proponent of moral reform, using his influence to crusade against alcohol through his influential sermons?

Lyman Beecher

Who was establishing herself as an author and abolitionist and was a prominent figure who wrote to expose the realities of slavery, and her work became a powerful force within the abolitionist movement?

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Who approved of women preaching in public and known for his emotionally charged preaching, revival techniques called "New Measures," and his work as an educator and reformer?

Charles Grandison Finney