Second Great Awakening

The Great Second Awakening

The Great Second Awakening was the second big religious awakening and revival era for Christians in America. It was greatly welcomed by all sects of Christianity. It was attended by all, Presbyterian, Baptists and Methodists alike with equal eagerness and zeal. It was inaugurated at Cane Ridge Kentucky in 1806. There were a number of prominent personalities of the era, one of them being Charles Finney. He was a lawyer in New York, who wanted to "argue people into the kingdom of heaven." He imitated the "anxious bench." A number of religious revivals sprang up who also became political figures. They were heavily criticized for infusing into people a form of religion that was anti-intellectualism and heavenly rested on emotions. They helped in growth of traditional churches and encouraged then old dated tradition of attending church. As a result, the number of people attending church grew from 10- 12 in 1810 to 50 by the year 1860. Another type of church came into light in this era was the African Methodist Episcopal church (or AME Church founded by a slave Richard Allen in 1810. It provided relief and comfort to slaves and thus was accepted largely by slaves.

Another figure of these times was, Mother Ann Lee, was claimed to be the reincarnation of Christ. She founded the Shakers which was successful in Europe, but extremely popular in America. John Humphrey Noyes, who founded the Oneida Community strongly, rejected the celibacy of Mother Lee who claimed to live a celibate lifestyle. He introduced the idea of "complex marriages" in which, unlike the traditional marriages, everyone was married to everyone. Another church known as Mormon Church was established whose founder Joseph Smith claimed to guide by an angel Moronic.

Then there was another group of people -the Millenarians who believed that in return of Christ by the year 1843. The prominent outcome or feature of this era was the spread of anti-Catholic emotions among Christians.