1. RELIGION
CHARACTERISTICS AND IMPACTS
FROM 1800 TO 1850
Michal Bleyer and Lucas Coelho

2. 1800 to ~1850 Overview
 The Second Great Awakening was the defining
religious happening of this time period.
 It deeply affected American Society by changing
the beliefs of thousands if not millions of people
and by propagating the creation of many new
church denominations which deeply affected
American society.
 Many of the different denominations present in
this time period grew to prominence between
1800 and 1850 though some of the typically more
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affluent denominations were unaffected.

3. The Second Great Awakening
 With the reformation of American politics and
restructuring of the economy also came a religious
change.1
 Religious reformers wanted to improve the ordinary
Americans‟ religious commitment and theology. They
pushed against the reliance on reason that was
permeating U.S. society in such forms as Thomas
Paine‟s book “The Age of Reason”. 1
 This caused a slew of religious activities which
converted millions of Americans starting in the
southern frontier. 1
 This became known as the Second Great Awakening
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and by its end, three-fourths of Americans attended
Church. 1

4. Evangelists
 During the Second Great Awakening several
evangelists converted millions of people. 1
 They would set up camp meetings where
thousands would gather to here the evangelist
preach. 1
 Peter Cartwright was the most famous Methodist
“circuit rider” which was a traveling frontier
preacher. 1
 The best know evangelist from this time was
Charles Finney, who is said to have converted a
half-million people. 1
 Furthermore, women, specifically form the middle
class, played a much larger part in this religious
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revival in that they were the first and most fervent
1

5. Picture
s 
Peter
Charles
Cartwright
Finney
Camp Meeting
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6. Theology
 The Second Great Awakening propagated new
religious ideologies that had not typically been
stressed in the past. 1
 It pushed against the stern Calvinistic style
and the rational emphases propagated by the
French Revolution. 1
 Salvation through faith and not works was one
of the most important aspects of the 2nd G.A.
Works had previously been considered the
way to salvation. 1
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7. Effects
 The Second Great Awakening was marked by
very emotional sermons where people would flood
the alter after sermons. Methodists and Baptists
achieved the most amount of converts. Most of
these were among the common people. 1
 All this commotion left many new converts,
countless broken and reorganized churches, and
several new Christian Sects. 1
 This also influenced such causes such as the
temperance, Women‟s, and anti-slavery
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movements. 1

8. Results of the Second Great
Awakening
 This new religious revival fragmented
traditional faiths and spurred the creation of
new faiths. 1
 In Western New York, the ministers had
preached so much “fire and brimstone”
sermons that it became known as the “Burned-
Over District.” 1
 Religion was strengthened and there was a
renewed interest in pre-existing and new faiths.
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1

9. Religious Growth
 The Millerities or Adventists, a
new religion, were a group of
people named after William Miller
who believed Jesus would return
on October 22, 1884.2
 The Methodist, Baptist, and other
denominational faiths grew in the
southern and western portions of
the country.1
 Evangelism was increasingly
popular and many ministers
traveled around the continent to
convert the non-believers and
bring them into their
denomination.2 MB William Miller

10. Widening Gaps
 Anglican, Presbyterian, Unitarian, and other
major northern faiths came mostly out of more
wealthy areas of the country.1
 Baptists and Methodists however came out of
the less intelligent sections of the Union which
caused conflict between the North, South, and
West.1
 Denominations split even further when the
issue of slavery was brought up and
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fragmented various denominations even
further. 1

11. Mormons
 Mormonism, also known as the Church of Latter-
Day Saints, is the largest new Christian sect that
arose out of the Second Great Awakening.1
 It began when Joseph Smith claimed to have
received golden plates from an angel which were
later translated into the Book of Mormon.1
 Smith was latter murdered for his beliefs and
leadership of the Mormons fell to Brigham Young.1
 Other Christians were increasingly hostile towards
the Mormons so Young took them west to Utah to
escape persecution.1 MB

12. More Mormons
 Many new settlers followed Young
into Utah.1
 The Mormons overcame many
difficulties to build a blossoming
community. Their numbers were
bolstered by the many immigrants
coming in from their European
missionary projects. 1
 There polygamy practices
however delayed Utah„s entrance
into statehood for a period of time,
because of the anti-polygamy laws
passed by congress in 1882 and
1896.1
MB Brigham Young

13. Sources
1. David M. Kennedy, Lizabeth Cohen, and
Thomas Bailey, The American Pageant
(Boston M.A. Houghton Mifflin Company,
2006), 320-324
2. Second Great Awakening 5 April 2008,
<www.america.gov> (30 October 2011)
Pictures From:
 www.iwu.edu
 www.spurgeon.org
 http://arcweb.sos.state.or.us