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The American Yawp VOLUME I: to 1877
Discussion Questions
Chapter 10: Religion and Reform
What was the Second Great Awakening?
The Second Great Awakening was another religious ‘revival’ similar to the Frist Great Awakening
, while
it was
“considered less emotional than the Great Awakening
.
”
1
It rose in response to rapidly changing
social, industrial, and political ideas in American. With the removal of government supported Churches,
many denominations were able to grow or form. One denomination that grew rapidly was Methodism,
which allowed for Preachers to go out and
preach without a divinity degree if they felt a “supernatural
‘call to preach’.”
2
The Second Great Awakening also saw many denominations shift from strict and
gloomy Calvinist
ideals “to a
practical Arminianism...[emphasizing] the ability of sinners to make an
immediate decision for their salvation.”
3
This shift in theology helped bring America together in a time of
extreme change, as well as arm Christians with a way to remove
“
social problems they saw arising from
t
hese dramatic demographic changes.”
4
How did new religious movements respond to changing economic and gender relations?
The religious movements provided a rock for America to hold steady together through the drastic
changes of the Market revolution. However, the religious movements also provided women with a way to
gain more of a foothold in the public sphere. One example is Sojourner Truth, an emancipated slave
turned Methodist preacher, who felt called to the spirit to preach. She
even “[co
-founded] the Kingston
Methodist Church.”
Many of these religious movements were also in tandem with social reforms, and
while some sects did not allow for women to be as involved in the Church, other big more popular sects
such as Methodism and Baptism preached more egalitarian theology. This egalitarian theology allowed
for more women to be involved in social issues as well as religious ones through the church.
In what ways did religion inspire Americans to try to solve social problems?
Religion inspired Americans to solve social problems by changing way we view religion and the way it
was taught. One motivating factor was an increase of perfectionism and the want to create benevolent
societies. Ideas of perfectionisms and benevolent societies urged
that “it was the duty of converted
1
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Second Great Awakening."
Encyclopedia
Britannica
, September 21, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Second-Great-
Awakening.
2
Locke, Joseph L. and Ben Wright, eds.
The American YAWP
(Vol 1: To 1877), Stanford University
Press, 2019, 256.
http://americanyawp.com/
3
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Second Great Awakening."
Encyclopedia
Britannica
, September 21, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Second-Great-
Awakening.
4
Locke, Joseph L. and Ben Wright, eds.
The American YAWP
(Vol 1: To 1877), Stanford University
Press, 2019, 259
http://americanyawp.com/
Christians to improve the world around them in order to pave the way for Christ’s return.”
5
This
encouraged Christians to join benevolent societies on tackling different issues, normally lead by a leader
in the church or sect. These benevolent societies helped build orphanages, petition governments,
programs to help the poor, and did a multitude of other things to continue to make A
merica a ‘benevolent
empire
.’
Why did antislavery Americans begin to demand the immediate abolition of slavery?
With the Second Great Awakening preaching ideas of equality, humanism, and for good Christians to
improve the world around them the Abolitionist movement gained more traction and became more
radical. Many Evangelical Christians saw slavery as a
slap in the face of God and a “blight on the moral
virtue of the United States.”
6
This spurred many Americans to demand the immediate end of slavery. The
way they sought to achieve this was to spread awareness in the form of writings and preaching to tug
“at
middle class heartstrings.”
7
Encouraging others to get rid of slavery to save their souls did not sit well
with many plantation owners who benefitted immensely from slavery. The Abolitionist radicals were
regarded as “rabble rousers who would stir up sectional tensions”
8
and were attacked relentlessly because
of this.
How did the movement for women’s rights form?
The movement for women’s rights formed with the abolitionist movem
ent and the education of women.
With women seen as responsible for the education of the children, female reformers argued that the
women “needed to be well educated themselves.”
9
This helped increase women’s education and increased
their ability to assert themselves in the public sphere. With the social and religious reforms, many women
began joining benevolent societies to help combat issues. One popular on for many women to join was
the Abolitionist movement, however, with lots of backlash and danger surrounding this movement many
women began to think of other issues they could fight on. One of those issues was women’s right
s.
5
Locke, Joseph L. and Ben Wright, eds.
The American YAWP
(Vol 1: To 1877), Stanford University
Press, 2019, 264.
http://americanyawp.com/
6
Locke, Joseph L. and Ben Wright, eds.
The American YAWP
(Vol 1: To 1877), Stanford University
Press, 2019, 270.
http://americanyawp.com/
7
Locke, Joseph L. and Ben Wright, eds.
The American YAWP
(Vol 1: To 1877), Stanford University
Press, 2019, 271.
http://americanyawp.com/
8
Locke, Joseph L. and Ben Wright, eds.
The American YAWP
(Vol 1: To 1877), Stanford University
Press, 2019, 271.
http://americanyawp.com/
9
Locke, Joseph L. and Ben Wright, eds.
The American YAWP
(Vol 1: To 1877), Stanford University
Press, 2019, 275.
http://americanyawp.com/
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