American History

The second great awakening was a period of immense religious revitalization that extended into the antebellum period of the United States.  It was characterized by widespread conversions as well as Christian evangelism. The second great awakening was initially named after the great awakening which had occurred approximately half a century before.

In the early 19th century, something big happened. Something that had extensive consequences a rejuvenated interest in religion. It was well known as the Second Great Awakening and it saw the revival of the religion which was seen to reach the backwoods as well as the inner cities, old established villages and frontier towns. The revival affected all sorts of people including children, adults, women, men, free and slave, rich and poor. The United States not only underwent a new wave of religiosity but the second message of the second Great Awakening as new and so were the ways in which they were relayed. The new religious style stressed the importance of using the heart more than the head, feelings more than thinking, and emotions more than logic. All this it did with one motive to have a conversion experience and more importantly to be born again.

Through inventive social familial arrangements, the second Great Awakening generated interest in trying to explore ways in which to integrate both life and religion. The results of this were experiments in group or communal living that was known as utopias, as well as an interest in social reform. Utopia is a Greek word meaning no place or no where and therefore not real. It was coined in 1516 by Sir Thomas Moore who was from England, in his book Utopia which was about the ideal society.

The thought of forming a utopia in America goes way back to the first New England settlement. The second Great Awakening witnessed refurbished interests among many in creating a heaven on earth, in America, and at the same time fully integrated religion and daily life.

Before the American Revolution took place, protestant Christianity was both the official and the unofficial religion of any given colony. The only exemption was Maryland which acted as a refuge of Catholics who faced persecution in England. In a bid to support the official church of the town, church tax was introduced. It did not matter whether one went to that particular church or not. Adults or heads of homesteads were the only ones required to pay church tax. Therefore most adult women did not pay church taxes as they were married. But for those who were single or widowed, and acted as heads of their families, they were required to pay church tax.

Many Americans did not belong to any particular church or congregation and it was becoming quite expensive to become an official church member. Therefore many more people attended services than belonged to the church offering those services. Religious freedom was one distinguishing characteristic of the new America. It was made clear in the first constitution amendment which stated that congress would not make law that would respect an establishment of religion. In both the 18th and the 19th centuries, religious freedom meant that there were a variety of different religions that were being practiced then. There then arose an animosity between the catholic faithfuls and the Protestants as anti-catholic sentiments continued to grow among the colonies in the Early Republic. Irrespective of the apparent religious diversity, a great number of religious Americans were Protestants, and the formal incorporation of religion and daily life had a precedent in New England Puritan colonies. The American Protestants were not only Protestants but of a particular kind Calvinist. They believed Christians were born with the original sin and were sinful in the eyes of an angry God. But this came to change during the Second Great Awakening, where the new theory now embraced a variety of different ideas about both sin, salvation and about the nature of divine. The Second Great Awakening many Calvinist doctrines and promised deliverance for all those who wished to be saved.

There is controversy on when the Second Great Awakening begun with some historian stating it started at Cane Ridge in Kentucky back in 1801 where a religious revival had been held and saw more than 10,000 people attend. The revivals were very popular and spread across America like wild fire. While Calvinism had previously stressed divine power, human sinfulness, and human helplessness, the Second Great Awakening stressed the New Testament, forgiveness, divine love, salvation, and Jesus as a Lamb of God. It emphasized that salvation is a free gift from God and is for everyone regardless of who they were. It comprised of new methods of preaching in a bid to encourage conversion. These methods were referred to as the New measures that concentrated on appealing to the emotions. This revival was characterized by crying, waving, speaking, singing, and speaking in tongues. Many Americans embraced salvation and the question that remained was if ones sins were washed away, was it that they were now incapable of sinning or were now perfect. This was the next step after salvation Perfectionism. They argued it was possible for one to become perfect after salvation, incapable of sinning.

The Second Great Revolution supported the Market Revolution ideas which stressed the ability of individuals to succeed or fail by their own efforts. It also greatly supported the social reform movement in a bid to better United States fairness and morals.

During the Early Republic, in a bid to live as free from sin as possible, Americans formed utopian a couple societies. They were also referred to as the communes. Examples of communes were the shakers and the Oneida commune, who were all different in terms of beliefs therefore appealed to different types of people. Some were religious while some were not.

In short, the Market Revolution affected United States political economy and consequently not all Americans were happy about it. Some of the non-religious communes included the Amana, New Harmony, Book Farm, and the Northampton Association of Education and industry colonies. On the other hand, the religious communes concentrated on encouraging people to withdraw from the world into one society that circled mainly around religion, in a bid to develop their spirituality. One of the famous religious communes was the Shakers. They believed in purity, pacifism, sex segregation, confession of sin openly, worship through dancing, and movement and song. They are one of the most successful utopian societies in America. The other commune was the Oneida commune which embraced perfectionism. John Noyes who was not only a member but also a Congregational minister and a lawyer invented two practices meant to improve sexuality and social feelings in the Oneida commune and in an unselfish manner. They were complex marriage, which entailed elimination of romantic exceptionality and selfishness by subordinating ones interests to those of the community, and male continence which believed that Eve on being created was meant to be Adams companion, but only a child bearer incidentally.

Compared to the Shakers commune, the Oneida commune was not that popular and I was considered as immoral (Pawnee).

In reforming America, the early Republic experienced several attempts to ensure America lived up to its revolutionary promise to be one nation where the individual mattered. The reform era was characterized by small state and local governments, new cities were beginning to come up and grow, and citizens worked together to find solutions to both their old and new problems. It was promising as change was already in the air and Americas promise to be a nation that protected individual rights was now seen as possible. However, the change was occurring more slowly than many had anticipated, and it did not also come without a fight.

The Second Great Awakening was one of the influences that contributed to reforming America in various different sectors. Some of the reform impulses were among them education reforms and prison and mental health reforms.

However, two groups were excluded from the general commitment to individual rights they were the women and the African Americans. However, both antislavery and organized womens rights movements were created as a channel for fighting for social reforms. A good example was the womens movement. Women played key roles in the organized resistance to Great Britain and in the war as well. Married women could not own property neither could she buy or sell property. Everything belonged to the man including what she inherited. Women participated in social reforms and many Americans were not pleased with the idea of women participating in reform movements. Some congregational ministers later announced that it was inappropriate for respectable women to participate in social reform efforts.

Slavery was also another issue of concern. Millions of Americans were affected by the systems of slavery until it was abolished at the period of the Civil War (Jones). They performed all kinds of chores including working in the plantations, driving cattle, and working in the warehouses and factories, under harsh conditions.

As a slave from the American plantations in the South, I would have this to say.
We as slaves in the South are faced with many challenges, which most of us would love to see addressed. We work so hard in the plantations and unlike slaves from other regions we are rewarded with very poor pay. In addition to this, we face physical abuse from our bosses as they try to exercise their control over us.  We demand a stop in this abuse and a rise in our daily wages.

We also want education for our children. We want the colored community be supplied with good schools where our children can learn to read and write and have better and brighter futures that they can look forward to.

God created us as human beings and intended us to be all free and equal. That is the dream of every man and woman working in these fields, day and night, that one day they be liberated, to work in their own farms, have their own children whom they can educate, and share with their white brothers and sisters without fear of discrimination.

Most importantly, we want to free. Free from bondage, molestation, poor pay, and poor health. When the day comes that a colored man can make hisher own decisions without being forcefully imposed upon laws, and then we shall be free men, as God intended us to be.