Question

In: Psychology

During the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century more Americans than ever embraced organized...

During the Second Great Awakening of the early 19th century more Americans than ever embraced organized religious activities. Evaluate how this came about. Was more religious choice developing? Was it in some ways parallel to what was happening politically during the same period?

Solutions

Expert Solution

The Second Great Awakening, which spread religion through revivals and emotional preaching, sparked a number of reform movements. Revivals became a key part of the movement and attracted hundreds of converts to new Protestant denominations. ... Newer denominations, such as Methodists and Baptists, grew quickly.

Social reform prior to the Civil War came largely out of this new devotion to religion. Efforts to apply Christian teaching to the resolution of social problems presaged the social gospel of the late nineteenth century. Converts were taught that to achieve salvation, they needed not only to repent for personal sin but also work for the moral perfection of society, which meant eradicating sin in all its forms. Thus, evangelical converts were leading figures in a variety of nineteenth-century reform movements.

Reforms took the shape of social movements for temperance, women’s rights, and the abolition of slavery. Social activists began efforts to reform prisons and care for the handicapped and mentally ill. They believed in the perfectibility of people and were highly moralistic in their endeavors. Many participants in the revival meetings believed that reform was a part of God’s plan. As a result, local churches saw their role in society as purifying the world through the individuals to whom they could bring salvation, as well as through changes in the law and the creation of institutions. Interest in transforming the world was applied to political action, as temperance activists, antislavery advocates, and proponents of other variations of reform sought to implement their beliefs into national politics. While religion had previously played an important role on the American political scene, the Second Great Awakening highlighted the important role which individual beliefs would play.


Related Solutions

the macro economy might have been more self-correcting in the 19th century than in the 20th century
In the notes I argue that the macro economy might have been more self-correcting in the 19th century than in the 20th century. What do I think changed by 1930 that made the Great Depression world different from the world of Adam Smith? Why was this change important?
In what ways was the Second Great Awakening a response to the Market Revolution? Was it...
In what ways was the Second Great Awakening a response to the Market Revolution? Was it in opposition to the Market Revolution? How did it take advantage of social, economic, and cultural changes of the Market Revolution?
In what ways were the Second Great Awakening and the Transcendentalist movement a reaction to the...
In what ways were the Second Great Awakening and the Transcendentalist movement a reaction to the market economy?
Compare and contrast the concerns and outlook of the second great awakening, the social reform, and...
Compare and contrast the concerns and outlook of the second great awakening, the social reform, and the nativism in ante-bellum America.
The United States, as it began its long and successful growth in the early 19th century,...
The United States, as it began its long and successful growth in the early 19th century, consciously promoted domestic production through such activities as tariffs, Clay's American System, and many direct subsidies to railroads, canal companies, farmers (free land) etc. Today we view this blatant example of large scale and extensive import-substitution industrialization as having been very successful. Comment fully on this statement.
Discuss the economics of slavery in the 19th century during the cotton gin.
Discuss the economics of slavery in the 19th century during the cotton gin.
Compare and contrast the second industrial revolution (late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century) to the first industrial revolution (late eighteenth century to the early nineteenth century)
Compare and contrast the second industrial revolution (late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century) to the first industrial revolution (late eighteenth century to the early nineteenth century).    
Discuss the early English Immigrant contacts with the Native Americans in the 17th Century?
Discuss the early English Immigrant contacts with the Native Americans in the 17th Century?
Ricardo and Malthus were two economists in the early 19th Century, who participated in academic discussions...
Ricardo and Malthus were two economists in the early 19th Century, who participated in academic discussions on various subjects. One subject they disagreed on was, the most likely way, the profit rate may go down in a capitalist economy, which would potentially end the growth of the output level within the system. According to Ricardo, the profit squeeze is the most likely way. For Malthus, growth rates are likely to go down because of a demand shortage. How do Ricardo...
1. What significant research in psychophysics was done during the 19th century that resulted in a...
1. What significant research in psychophysics was done during the 19th century that resulted in a major contribution to the "new psychology" becoming a legitimate science? a. Be sure to name the two contributors and discuss their findings. Describe three ways that their work contributed to the new science of psychology. b. What early psychologist was most influenced by the psychophysical work? 2. Explain briefly, why psychology has a "long history but only a short past". What well known psychologist...
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT