Second Great Awakening

2nd Great Awakening

• What is the 2nd Great Awakening?– It is a religious

movement that occurs in the 1820-30’s, where people attended the religious revivals occurring predominately in the North.

2nd Great Awakening

• Where did the 2nd Great Awakening start?– Northeast- Congregational

churches of southern New England.

– Old Southwest- Kentucky and Tennessee- James McGready kindled the excitement.• Cane Ridge Revival (1801)-

most famous religious meeting in American history. This revival had days of intense preaching, people responding with deep emotion through weeping uncontrollably, laughing, twitching, and run in circles.

2nd Great Awakening

• What did the preachers of the 2nd Great Awakening preach?

– Your destiny lays in your own hands

– The attending members were encouraged to live well and work hard.

– The followers had the responsibility to do God’s work on earth.

– Through this work , they would be able to create a heaven on earth.

Leading Figures in the 2nd Great Awakening

• Francis Asbury- Methodist- Circuit Riders- Methodist preachers who were traveling preachers. Imposed high standards such as:

• No indulgent in alcohol or tobacco.• Challenged their growing acceptance of slavery.

• Charles Grandison Finney –Presbyterian- learned basic Puritan theology. Finney emphasized :

• Sinner’s ability simply to accept God’s offer of grace• Innate ability of men and women to choose good over evil.• Avoid alcohol tobacco, dancing• Urged Christians to restrict the growth of slavery.

Religious Groups

The Shakers

http://video.pbs.org/video/1593044441

The Shakers were celibate, they did not marry or bear children, yet theirs is the most enduring religious experiment in American history. Seventy-five years before the emancipation of the slaves and one hundred fifty years before

women began voting in America, the Shakers were practicing social, sexual, economic, and spiritual equality for all members.

The Mormons

• http://video.pbs.org/video/1460817958

• http://www.pbs.org/mormons/map/