Unit 4.6 Second Great Awakening Notes

I. Second Great Awakening (1797 – 1859)

The Second Great Awakening began among frontier farmers of ______

Spread quickly among Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians

Central ideas: Christians have a ______duty to improve the world in which they live; entrance to Heaven is gained through acts of ______

Tent Revivals

During the Awakening, traveling ministers would set up ______and preach, often for up to a week at a time

Singing, prayers, motivational sermons, and speaking in ______were all designed to whip up the crowd into emotional protestations of faith

______ (1792 – 1875): Revivalist Presbyterian minister

Allowed women to participate in public ______(not a normal practice at the time)

Preached that everyone has the ability to gain salvation through repentance and good works that demonstrate faith in God

Planned and rehearsed his revival sermons

Lyman Beecher (1775 – 1863): Revivalist Presbyterian minister

Father of author Harriet Beecher Stowe (Uncle Tom’s Cabin)

Preached that ______, not government, have to be responsible for building a better society

Strongly ______(anti-immigrant) and anti-Catholic

II. Benevolent societies

Developed in larger towns and cities in response to the revivalism of the Second Great Awakening

Main goal was to spread Protestant Christianity, but soon began to focus on social issues such as ______, prison reform, education reform, and ______

Surprisingly, many of these societies were led by ______

“True Womanhood” (Also called “The Cult of Domesticity”)

Belief at the time was that a woman’s responsibility was to be a ______and a model of Christian piety and virtue to their children and husband

This implied that wives were their husbands’ social equals and their moral superiors

Women interpreted this to mean that they had the responsibility to build a moral society in which to raise their families, so they assumed a role of social activism

Revivalism and abolition

Most revivalist ministers were staunch supporters of the abolitionist (______) movement

They taught that slavery was ______because it destroys the soul of the master and the body of the slave

III. New American Religious Groups

The Unitarian Church

Believe Jesus was not the Son of God, but was an important teacher – there was no Virgin Birth, no miracles, and no Resurrection

God is a unity (God is ______), not a Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)

The Universalist Church

Believe in Universal ______– there is no Hell and God redeems everyone because He loves everyone

God would not create a person knowing that they were ______to eternal damnation

The Mormon Church

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Started in New York, but were the victims of harassment and persecution over their unique religious beliefs, including the addition of a third testament to the Bible (The ______) and practice of ______(having multiple wives)

After leaving New York, the group eventually resettled in Illinois

Joseph Smith (1805 – 1844)

Founder of ______and recorder of The Book of Mormon – which he claimed to have received from an angel – which describes how the Israelites arrived in America around 600 BC and were later visited by Jesus

Had numerous legal problems in Missouri and Illinois which eventually led to his arrest

Murdered by an anti-Mormon mob in 1844 while awaiting trial

______ (1801 – 1877): President of the Mormon church from 1847 -1877

After Smith’s death, he led the Mormons west to the remote Utah Territory to escape persecution, founding Salt Lake City, which remains the unofficial “______” of the Church today

Had 55 wives, but most were widows he married in order to become financially responsible for them and their children

IV. Utopian Communities

Attempts to establish social equality by building communities where all work, responsibilities and rewards are shared ______by the citizens

New Harmony, Indiana

Town which was bought in 1824 by a utopian group with the intention of transforming it into a perfect socialist community

No private property, no money were allowed; the community failed and was dissolved in 1829

Oneida Community, NY

Founded by John Noyes in 1848 in Oneida, NY; lasted until 1881

All members of the community worked in a factory making ______(Oneida Flatware)

Every man was married to every woman in the community (a practice called complex marriage)

Older women introduced young men to sex, while older men did the same for young women

Efforts were made to breed more perfect children by careful selection of breeding partners; children were then raised by the community rather than by specific parents

Brook Farm Community

Founded in 1841, near west Roxbury, MA

Community of Transcendentalist philosophers

Citizens shared all labor, and used their free time for ______discussion

Community collapsed economically after being destroyed by fire in 1847

Shakers: The United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing

Founded by Ann Lee (who Shakers believed to be the Second Appearing of Christ) in England; offshoot of the Quakers

No marriage allowed, lifelong celibacy required

Shakers would adopt orphans to keep communities alive

All work and living quarters were divided by sex, but the sexes were equals

Peaked in mid 1800s with about 6000 members, today only 3 known practitioners in the US