Background The Second Great Awakening in
North America rejected the skepticism,
deism,
Unitarianism, and
rationalism left over from the
American Enlightenment, about the same time that similar movements flourished in
Europe.
Pietism was sweeping
Germanic countries and
evangelicalism was waxing strong in
England. The Second Great Awakening occurred in several episodes and over different denominations; however, the revivals were very similar. The movement quickly spread throughout
Kentucky,
Indiana,
Tennessee, and
southern Ohio, as well as other regions of the United States and Canada. Each denomination had assets that allowed it to thrive on the frontier. The Methodists had an efficient organization that depended on itinerant ministers, known as
circuit riders, who sought out people in remote frontier locations. The circuit riders came from among the common people, which helped them establish rapport with the frontier families they hoped to convert.
Theology Postmillennialist theology dominated American Protestantism in the first half of the 19th century. Postmillennialists believed that Christ will return to earth after the "
Millennium", which could entail either a literal 1,000 years or a figurative "long period" of peace and happiness. Christians thus had a duty to purify society in preparation for that return. This duty extended beyond American borders to include
Christian Restorationism.
George Fredrickson argues that Postmillennial theology "was an impetus to the promotion of Progressive reforms, as historians have frequently pointed out." During the Second Great Awakening of the 1830s, some
diviners expected the Millennium to arrive in a few years. By the late 1840s, however, the great day had receded to the distant future, and postmillennialism became a more passive religious dimension of the wider
middle-class pursuit of reform and progress. During this period, a number of
nonconformist,
folk religion, and
evangelical sects flourished in the region. The extent to which religious fervor actually affected the region was reassessed in last quarter of the twentieth century. Linda K. Pritchard used statistical data to show that compared to the rest of New York State, the
Ohio River Valley in the lower Midwest, and the country as a whole, the religiosity of the Burned-over District was typical rather than exceptional. More recent works, however, have argued that these revivals in Western New York had a unique and lasting impact upon the religious and social life of the entire nation.
West and Tidewater South On the
American frontier, evangelical denominations, especially
Methodists and
Baptists, sent missionary preachers and exhorters to meet the people in the backcountry in an effort to support the growth of church membership and the formation of new congregations. Another key component of the revivalists' techniques was the
camp meeting. These outdoor religious gatherings originated from field meetings and the Scottish
Presbyterians' "
Holy Fairs", which were brought to America in the mid-eighteenth century from
Ireland,
Scotland, and Britain's border counties. Most of the Scotch-Irish immigrants before the
American Revolutionary War settled in the backcountry of
Pennsylvania and down the spine of the
Appalachian Mountains in present-day
Maryland and
Virginia, where Presbyterian emigrants and Baptists held large outdoor gatherings in the years prior to the war. The Presbyterians and Methodists sponsored similar gatherings on a regular basis after the Revolution. The denominations that encouraged the revivals were based on an interpretation of man's spiritual equality before God, which led them to recruit members and preachers from a wide range of classes and all races. Baptists and Methodist revivals were successful in some parts of the
Tidewater South, where an increasing number of common planters,
plain folk, and slaves were converted.
West In the newly settled frontier regions, the revival was implemented through camp meetings. These often provided the first encounter for some settlers with organized religion, and they were important as social venues. The camp meeting was a religious service of several days' length with preachers. Settlers in thinly populated areas gathered at the camp meeting for fellowship as well as worship. The sheer exhilaration of participating in a religious revival with crowds of hundreds and perhaps thousands of people inspired the dancing, shouting, and singing associated with these events. The revivals also followed an arc of great emotional power, with an emphasis on the individual's sins and need to turn to Christ, and a sense of restoring personal salvation. This differed from the Calvinists' belief in predestination as outlined in the
Westminster Confession of Faith, which emphasized the inability of men to save themselves and decreed that the only way to be saved was by God's electing grace. Upon their return home, most converts joined or created small local churches, which grew rapidly. The
Revival of 1800 in
Logan County, Kentucky, began as a traditional Presbyterian sacramental occasion. The first informal camp meeting began in June, when people began camping on the grounds of the
Red River Meeting House. Subsequent meetings followed at the nearby
Gasper River and Muddy River congregations. All three of these congregations were under the ministry of Presbyterian Reverend James McGready. A year later, in August 1801, an even larger sacrament occasion that is generally considered to be America's first camp meeting was held at
Cane Ridge in
Bourbon County, Kentucky, under
Barton W. Stone (1772–1844) with numerous
Presbyterian, Baptist, and Methodist ministers participating in the services. The six-day gathering attracting perhaps as many as 20,000 people, although the exact number of attendees was not formally recorded. Due to the efforts of such leaders as Stone and
Alexander Campbell (1788–1866), the camp meeting revival spread religious enthusiasm and became a major mode of church expansion, especially for the Methodists and Baptists. Presbyterians and Methodists initially worked together to host the early camp meetings, but the Presbyterians eventually became less involved because of the noise and often raucous activities that occurred during the protracted sessions. by the Revs: Samuel McAdow, Finis Ewing, and Samuel King and became a strong supporter of the revivalist movement. Cane Ridge was also instrumental in fostering what became known as the
Restoration Movement, which consisted of non-denominational churches committed to what they viewed as the original, fundamental Christianity of the
New Testament. Churches with roots in this movement include the
Churches of Christ,
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the
Evangelical Christian Church in Canada. The congregations of these denomination were committed to individuals' achieving a personal relationship with Christ. The converts during the Second Great Awakening were predominantly female. A 1932 source estimated at least three female converts to every two male converts between 1798 and 1826. Young people (those under 25) also converted in greater numbers, and were the first to convert. ==New movements==