A Religious Awakening 8.1

Objectives Describe the Second Great Awakening Explain why some religious groups suffered from discrimination in the mid-1800s. Trace the emergence of the utopian and Transcendentalist movements.

Key Parts The Second Great Awakening Changes America Non-Protestants Suffer Discrimination Utopias and Transcendentalism

Introduction Read section 8.1 Fill in the chart on page 266, two bullet points per square.

The Second Great Awakening A group of evangelical preachers felt that America was becoming immoral and decided to begin a revival. The revival started in Kentucky then moved north and south. This was considered evangelical style of worship, which is designed to elicit strong emotions to attract converts.

Cont. These revivals would often last up to a week; one of the most influential revivalists was attorney Charles Grandison Finney. Many of the revivalist sermons featured the idea that the United States was leading the world into the millennium or the thousand years of glory following the Second Coming of Jesus. (called millennialism)- readying the society by perfecting it through reform.

African Americans Embrace the Spirit African Americans were often invited to these revivals. Some even established their own separate churches that later became known as African American Methodist Episcopal (AME) Religion for slaves caused several uprisings, with slaves saying that they were called by God to lead enslaved people out of bondage.

Non- Protestants Suffer Discrimination The Mormon's faced discrimination due to how they practiced their faith in small groups secluded from people and practiced ideals that protestants didn’t agree with. They also bought land together in groups which gave them power. Also, they voted in groups to help them gain more political power.

Cont. Catholics were discriminated against because of the same reasons they have been since the beginning of the United States. Protestants felt as though the Roman Catholic’s ideals were not compatible with the ideals of democracy. Also they felt that the Roman Catholic Church would choose loyalty to the Pope rather than the United States.

Utopias and Transcendentalism During the 1800s dozens of groups of Americans sought to improve their lives in a unique way. They chose to distance themselves from society by setting up communities based on unusual ways of sharing property, labor, and family life. These were considered Utopian communities because they tried to be perfect communities.

Cont. Two well- known utopian communities were New Harmony, Indiana, and Brook Farm, Massachusetts. Robert Owen, a British social reformer sought to have people from different backgrounds work together in a cooperative society at New Harmony. Brook Farm lasted six years and New Harmony lasted just two years.

The Shakers Succeed The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, known as the Shakers, were another group that set up a chain of separate communal living societies. They set up villages in New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, and Illinois. Men and women had separate housing and did not marry or have children. Their economy flourished because of their high quality crafts and produce. (Remnants of their settlements still exist today)

Transcendentalists In New England a group known as the Transcendentalists developed a new way to look at humanity, nature, God, and the relationship among them. This group believed they could transcend beyond their senses to learn about the world. Ralph Waldo Emerson (former Unitarian minister) was the leading Transcendentalist.