Question

Compare and contrast the concerns and outlook of the second great awakening, the social reform, and the nativism in ante-bellum America.

Answer 1

The second awakening had a great impact on the history of religion in America. Baptists and Methodists grew in number and even to the extent of Anglicans, Presbyterians as well as Reformed and Congregationalists.

The political and social changes that took place in America had made many people very anxious. The second awakening brought much more individualistic, egalitarian and emotional practices gave relief to a large number of people. These practices provided comfort to the anxious population. The people who were much more influenced by the second awakening were the people who wanted and longed for stability, decency, and goodness in a changing world.

Prior to the civil war, social reform was largely led by the second awakening. Social problems were attempted to be solved by Christian doctrines. People were taught that along with repenting for sins, there was a need to work for moral perfection in society. This would mean that sin had to be completely eliminated from society. Thus, the reform movements in the nineteenth century were largely led by evangelicals.

Social reform movements were for temperance, abolition of slavery as well as for women's rights, prison reforms as also for the care of the mentally ill and the differently abled (handicapped) people as there was a belief in the perfectibility of people and there was a great moralistic view that prevailed. A lot many people even vehemently believed that reform was part of God's plan to save the people. This meant that local churches held the view that they were playing a role in purifying people and could lead them to salvation. The method through which they planned to do that was through changes in law as well as through the creation of various institutions.

Transforming the world was not just a religious affair, it had to be done politically as well. Anti slavery advocates, temperance activists, and activists of a whole other variety of social reforms sought to bring about changes on a national political level through their religious beliefs.

Religion has always played an important role in America. The second great awakening just highlighted the role of the individual in bringing about change through religious belief.