The SECOND Great Awakening [APUSH Review Unit 4 Topic 10] Period 4: 1800-1848

What was the Second Great Awakening?00:00:18

The Second Great Awakening was a series of Protestant religious revivals emphasizing righteous living, personal restraint, and moral rectitude leading to individual and societal salvation. Baptists and Methodists spread this revival quickly across America through emotional camp meetings.

Cause 1: The Market Revolution00:00:43

The Market Revolution, which emphasized individual responsibility for economic success, paralleled the Second Great Awakening's spiritual message. Preachers taught that salvation was in one's own hands, contrasting with the First Great Awakening's Calvinist belief in predestination. This meant individuals could achieve salvation through self-reform and good works.

Cause 2: Rising Democratic and Individualistic Beliefs00:01:37

A growing desire for democratic participation, especially among lower classes, extended to spiritual life. The Second Great Awakening heavily appealed to these lower classes, and camp meetings were largely egalitarian, including people of all races and genders.

Cause 3: Rejection of Rationalism for Romanticism00:02:08

The movement reflected a broader societal shift from rationalism to Romanticism, valuing emotional reality over rational thought. Preachers like Charles Grandison Finney adopted a less philosophical, more emotional, and audience-centered style. His preaching emphasized moral reformation over personal salvation, using plain language and metaphors to appeal to common people and spark a national movement for societal change.

Impact on Future Reform Movements00:03:14

The Second Great Awakening's focus on societal reform would later spur other movements, such as temperance and the development of new Christian denominations like Mormonism.