The Second Great Awakening By: Renee Philson, Christine Gallarin, Helen Nguyen

Second Great Awakening The Second Great Awakening was a religious revival that occurred in the United States from the beginning of the late 18th century and lasted until the middle of the 19th century The revivals encouraged people to return to God. Especially strong in the Northeast and in the Midwest.

Causes of Second Great Awakening In the late 1700’s, Americans no longer regularly attended church services. Some people believed that God did not play an important role in everyday life. Others were to busy with making a living to have time to worship. Some people started to believe in Deism. Deism is the belief that God created the universe but did not intervene worldly affairs. This seemingly cold and indifferent God was not appealing to many people. The American Revolution detached churches from Government and weakened traditional forms of religious practice. The church had to reorganize religion for the people expanding westward .

Camp meetings Most religious revivals occurred as camp meetings, where hundreds to thousands of people would gather in a wilderness encampment for four days to a week. They engaged in spiritual exercises designed to promote religious fervor and conversions. These exercises included the singing of hymns, public confessions, renunciations of sin, personal witnesses to the workings of the spirit, collective prayer, and sermons. The first camp meeting occurred in south central Kentucky in June 1800. There, James McGready, a Presbyterian and two colleagues preached for three straight days. These gatherings not only provided an opportunity to hear the word of God, but also a place to speak and trade with fellow frontiersmen.

Charles Grandison Finney Charles G. Finney, an evangelist, believed that the Gospel not only saved people, but was also a means to reform society. He was a fervent abolitionist. Known for his innovations in preaching and religious meetings. - Having woman pray in public meetings of mixed gender. - Development of the “anxious bench” (a place where those considering becoming Christians could come to receive prayer.) Also known for his use of extemporaneous preaching. (A style of preaching that was popular in the late 1800’s among Baptist, Methodist, Unitarian.)

Beliefs Focused on sin as a human action and emphasized the duty and ability to repent and stop sinning Evangelicals believed that they had the duty to prepare the way for Christ’s Second Coming by working to create the 1000 year reign of righteousness that would precede him. Believed could only know God by experiencing his living presence, not through reason. A saved person was expected to act in certain ways, like giving to missions, not drinking, and going to church. Sin was associated with selfishness. Faith was to be expressed in action

Conversion The core of nineteenth-century evangelicalism was the experience of conversion. A real, intensely emotional event which created a deep sense of humility and peace with an overwhelming sense of love towards God. The process: began with concern about the soul’s state which caused people to question what they could do to be saved. This led to a state of spiritual anxiety, marked by the deep fear of eternal damnation, which grew to the realization that they were justly condemned for their sins and deserved eternal damnation. The moment of conversion was the moment of the renunciation of sin and surrender to the will of God. Created an active concern for those who remained unconverted.

Effects of Second Great Awakening Many educational institutions and overseas missions were launched. Social activism created abolition groups, temperance and suffrage societies, and others committed to prison reform, care for the handicapped, and the mentally ill. Attempts were made to limit alcohol consumption and to abolish slavery. Encouraged people to return to God and church attendance increased. Many new religious groups were born, like the Mormons. Baptists and Methodists found the greatest number of converts because they were able to appeal to the emotions.

What were the causes and effects of the Second Great Awakening? Question What were the causes and effects of the Second Great Awakening? ?