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Religious Movements and Developments (1800-1850)By: Emily Corts and Logan Inscore

+Introduction

Alexis de Tocqueville, when speaking of America, said, “no country in the world where the Christian religion retains greater influence over the souls of men than in America.” This seemed to hold true as, by 1850, about three-fourths of the 23 million Americans attended church on a regular basis.

The religion of the colonial days was gone; Americans no longer believed in the traditional Christian beliefs. This change in thinking spurred on the Second Great Awakening.

+The Second Great Awakening

Beginning in about 1800, the movement was a reaction against liberalism.

While it started on the southern frontier, the movement quickly spread to the Northeast and across the country. It resulted in many conversions, reorganized churches, and new sects.

Membership increased most heavily in the Methodist and Baptist churches. These churches stressed personal conversion, democratic control of church affairs, and emotionalism.

The Second Great Awakening was one of the most momentous episodes in the history of American religion. It also encouraged evangelicalism, which resulted in great change in areas such as prison reform, the temperance cause, the women’s movement, and the crusade to abolish slavery.

+The Second Great Awakening(continued…) “Camp meetings” were a device used to spread the Second

Great Awakening. During these meetings, as many as 25,000 people would gather to listen to the “hellfire” gospel be preached by peripatetic preachers. Those who listened to these messages were often overcome with rolling, dancing, and jerking. Despite many of the “saved” returning back to their old ways, the conversions increased church membership.

Peter Cartwright (1785-1872) was a well-known Methodist preacher who travelled about the frontier during the Second Great Awakening.

Charles Grandison Finney was a venerated revival preacher. He led revivals in Rochester and New York City in 1830 and 1831. He opposed the use of alcohol and the practice of slavery.

+The Second Great Awakening(continued…)

One of the key parts of the Second Great Awakening was the feminization of religion. Women were very important to the Second Great Awakening because they yearned for a revival of religion. They were the majority of new church members. They were given the responsibility of bringing their husbands and families to God. They also founded charitable organizations. Women felt it was their responsibility to save their society.

+The Second Great Awakening(continued...) As a result of the Second Great Awakening, the more conservative

and thriving denominations in the East were not greatly impacted by the movement. The wealthy and educated continued to grow the Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, and Unitarian churches. The South and West contributed most to the enthusiasm for religious revival. Many members of the Methodist and Baptists churches, as well as new sects, were not as affluent.

Denominational Growth

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Emerging Denominations

Deism was a belief of liberal doctrine that relied on reason and science as opposed to revelation and the Bible. Deists rejected the idea of Christ being the Son of God. While they believed in a Supreme Being, they reject the concept of sin. Stemming from this belief, Unitarianism emerged. People of this particular faith believed that God existed in only one person. It stressed the basic goodness of human nature. The Unitarian movement was grasped by intellectuals such as Ralph Waldo Emerson. Deism

Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Emerging Denominations(continued…)

Millerites or Adventists formed in the 1830’s in Western New York. The name Millerite was derived from William Miller. Their interpretation of the Bible was that Christ would return on October 22, 1844. When Jesus did not appear on the date they believed he would, the movement lost its fervor, but was not completely destroyed.

Millerites (or Adventists)

William Miller

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Emerging Denominations(continued…)

The southern Baptists and southern Methodists emerged after disagreements with their northern counterparts, especially over the issue of slavery. In addition, the Presbyterians in the North and South also split.

Southern Baptists/ Methodists/ Presbyterians

Issue of Slavery (Pre-Civil War)

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Emerging Denominations(continued…)

In 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints emerged. The religion was created by the Native Americans. The Mormons accused Americans who were individualistic and proponents of free enterprise. They were accused of practicing polygamy. After the death of Joseph Smith, the first leader of the Mormons, Brigham Young took over. Under his leadership, the Mormons thrived. He married as many as twenty-seven women during his lifetime.

Mormons Brigham Young

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Emerging Denominations

The Black population during the 1800’s was rooted in evangelicalism. Throughout the Second Great Awakening, the Baptists and Methodists converted a large number of African Americas. After deciding they did not fit in well with the way whites worshipped, the African Americans formed their own denominations. The African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in 1815 by Richard Allen. Around 30 years later, the church had grown to over 17,000 members.

The African Methodist Episcopal Church

Richard Allen

+Sources…

David M. Kennedy, Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey, The American Pageant: A History Of The Republic (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006), 13 Ed., 320-324.

The Library of Congress, “Religion and the Founding of the American Republic,” The Emergence of the African American Church. July 23, 2010, http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/religion/rel07.html..

“Baptist Organization and Growth in the 1800s”. December 21, 2008, http://www.freesundayschoollessons.org/historical-theology/baptist-organization-and-growth-in-the-1800s/.

“Ralph Waldo Emerson”. http://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/ralph-waldo-emersion-41.php.

“Pioneer Gallery and Biographical Sketches,” Brian Miller. http://www.aplib.org/Gallery.htm (May 30, 2011).

“Slave Wars”. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/slavery.htm (May 7, 2011).

Candace, “Brigham Young Testifies of Joseph Smith, Jr.” December 19, 2007, http://leaders.ldsblogs.com/1125/brigham_young_testifies_of_joseph_smith_.

“Pennsylvania,” Richard Allen. http://www.netstate.com/states/peop/people/pa_ra.htm (September 24, 2009).

The End