1. 2nd Great Awakening Revival of religious feeling in the early 1800’s
Purpose was to improve American morals
Preachers known as revivalists
Evangelical: they used strong emotions to reach people
Charles Grandison Finney- A preacher, known as the “father of revivalism”

2. Separation of Church and State
Intended to protect religious groups and practices
Europe had state controlled churches that limited religious freedoms
The Separation of Church and state is NOT in the Constitution
Our religious rights are protected under the 1st amendment

3. African Americans and the Church
Freedman (free African Americans) established the AME
African Methodist Episcopal Church
Slaves embraced Christianity as well
Offered hope
Promised eternal freedom
church was not founded in Africa, nor is it exclusively for people of African descent. It is open and welcoming to people of all ethnic groups, origins, nationalities, and colors, although its congregations are predominantly made of up Black Americans

4. Joseph Smith and the Mormons
Joseph Smith: Founder of the Mormon religion
Church of Latter-Day Saints
Published the book of Mormon at age 24
Members of this church frequently faced persecution
adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent

5. The Mormons Face Persecution
Early Mormons practiced polygamy
Multiple wives
Looked down on by mainstream society
Mormons also all voted the same way
This meant that had great political power wherever they lived

6. The Mormons Face Persecution
Joseph Smith moved the Mormons to Nauvoo, Illinois
Here, Smith was murdered
Brigham Young wanted a place of safety for Mormons
He brought them to Salt Lake in Utah

7. Discrimination Against Catholics
Many Americans feared Catholics would be more loyal to the pope, than to the U.S.
Most immigrants were Catholic
Nativists and others distrusted or disliked immigrants

8. Discrimination Against Jews
Long history of discrimination throughout the world
Jews were actually prevented from holding political office in the early 1800’s

9. Utopian Communities Utopian: To aspire to be perfect
These communities sought to share property, work, and family life
Examples:
Brook Farm, Boston
80 people share all work. Failed in 6 years
New Harmony, Indiana
1,000 people living cooperatively. Failed in 2 years
Oneida, New York
Cooperative living environment, lasted 30 years

10. Shakers Another “utopian” group was the Shakers
Religious communal movement with 6,000 members by the 1840s
Men and women lived in separate housing
Men and women did not marry or have children
Why might this movement have a hard time growing?

11. Transcendentalism
Belief that humans could “transcend” their senses to learn
Individuals should listen to nature and their own conscience to learn “truths”
Questioned organized religion, materialism, and capitalism
Believed in an intuitive way of thinking as a means for discovering truth and god, not through reason, but through introspection and
exposure to nature
Believed artistic expression was more important that material wealth

12. Ralph Waldo Emerson Transcendentalist poet and author
Supported abolition of slavery
Supported individualism
Nationalism: urged Americans not to imitate European Culture, but to create an American culture
Self-reliance: advocated individualism and independent thinking
1850s became a leading critic of slavery
Supported the Union during the Civil War

13. Henry David Thoreau Transcendentalist author and philosopher
Supported abolition of slavery
Supported civil disobedience
peaceful refusal to obey unjust laws
Inspired later non-violent movements of Gandhi and Martin Luther King