Following on the heels of the First Great Awakening, the stage became set in America 1790 for the next monumental spiritual revival to shake and revitalize the heart of the nation recovering from the ravages of war. The Second Great Awakening is one of four, and is defined by historians as being less emotional than the first which reached its end sometime in 1740. Focusing primarily on a personal relationship with God as opposed to the teachings of Calvinistic predestination and the vivid imagery of Hell’s fire and eternal punishment that was commonly associated with the First Awakening brimstone teachings, an abundance of pastoral teaching would focus on the personal relationship between the creature and his Creator, and the saving grace of a free salvation offered to all. The Second Awakening took place in the more rural countryside of Kentucky, Utah, and similar places after the Louisiana Purchase which allowed expansion into the northwest. With the church on the heels of pioneers and settlers, the Awakening reached its peak influence around 1830. Camp meetings were the distinctive trait of this revival and marked the beginning of the movement itself. Groups of everyday folks would travel and gather in the wilderness to listen to the teachings of ministers and pastors of the time and reportedly experience the presence of God, leading to thousands of conversions to Christianity over the years. With an overwhelming zeal for Evangelistic Christianity and God across the entirety of the nation this Awakening unlike the first was more open to the poor, and led development in Women’s Suffrage as well as the advancement of religious freedom and ideals for enslaved Black Americans.
The Second Awakening was distinguished with multiple meetings in the wilderness and on the frontier known as camp meetings. These would be led by traveling ministers and pastors belonging to various denominations of Christianity, though by the end of the Awakening it is noted that most theological differences were “nonexistent” between the newer teachings, which shed many of the Calvinistic ideals from older denominations. Different leaders between these schools of thought and belief were referred to as “Old Lights” and “New Lights”. The Red River camp meeting was the first camp meeting and the start of it all. Led distinctly by the Presbyterian minister James McGready, this first meeting was held at the Red River House in Kentucky of June 13-17th 1800. Swathes of individuals joined in attendance to hear the gospel, and in detailed letters of minister friends to McGready who observed the effects entailed how numerous women and men fell under what they undoubtedly believed to be
the influence of the Holy Ghost. As they would literally fall as if slain in battle into a near comatose, trance-like state. After some time they would rise again and proclaim changed hearts in eloquent speech and tongue, and revel in the mysteries of the works of God and the message of the gospel.
The Cane Ridge camp meeting led by Presbyterian minister Barton Stone was the most recognizable and popularized camp meeting during the Second Awakening. In 1801 in Bourbon Kentucky, Barton Stone and other ministers attracted a crowd estimated to have had twenty thousand some-odd individuals seeking enlightenment or entertainment. This particular meeting captured media attention at the time,
spreading word across America like wildfire. Other notable leaders of the Awakening were individuals such as Theologians Timothy Dwight, Lyman Beecher, Nathaniel W. Taylor, and Asahel Nettleton. These men led the more conservative part of the Awakening in New England. Charles Grandison Finney is a prominent figure during the Second Awakening, and is thought to be the Father of Modern Revivalism itself.
After the end of the Revolutionary War and the rise of the Awakening, the rise of Judeo-Christian influence yielded to new inventive schools of thought, beliefs, and movements. With the rise of the idea that all men were equal in the eyes of God, it paved the way for the development for freedoms for all people at a pace the world had not seen before. Having witnessed various evils in society, Americans joined together to create reform movements influenced by the rise of evangelical spirituality and the change and shift of morality. This led to an advancement for the abolition of slavery during the antebellum period. A gentleman named Harry Hosier, or “Black Harry” was an immensely gifted orator of the time. Garnering praise from Benjamin Rush for his eloquence, Hosier was an illiterate Methodist preacher of the early 19th century who carried a great deal of influence and power. Women’s suffrage and rights advanced with leaders of women’s suffrage being Quakers like Lucretia Mott and Alice Paul. The Temperance movement also advanced as moderation in alcohol consumption was emphasized by evangelical leaders. But rather than pushing for the ban of hard spirits, self-control and preservation was the main principle.
The effects of the Awakening continued to last well into the 20th century, though interest in revivalism died down during that time. The Second Awakening is an incredibly defining aspect of the growth of American society and its people. The ripple effects of its influence are still felt throughout society today in a beautiful but aching world, looking for its next Great Revival.
Original writing by REVIVALin2020©