The Second Great Awakening was the second religious revival in the United States. The revival was very prominant in the Midwest and the Northwest. People started to believe that God did no longer play an important part of their lives. The attendance in church's across the nations dropped, as people thought that God did not care about their attendence. Which would mean a drop in income into church's. This can be referred to as "cheap grace" which is the action of thinking you are entitled to the same rights as someone who worships avidly and go to church every week, when you (or anyone) just thinks that by believeing in god you are entitled to the same benefits as those who worships religously. Many people thought like this in the second great awakening, and participated in this so called "cheap grace".
Charles Finney was an influential evangelist of the Second Great Awakening. He mostly spread his message in New York. Many different religious groups benefited from the Second Great Awakening including Baptists and methodists, finding the largest number of converts. Also occuring from the revivals came the Morman people, which as everyone knows, is a religion that multiple wives is allowed for the men.(which is awesome)
The revival encouraged American people to return to God, and to return to church. The revival worked and church attendance increased and a desire to reform America also arose. The Second Great Awakening also inspired the limit of alcohol consumption and to abolishment of slavery.
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I think the second great awakening was a really important time for America. It brought about the Methodist and Baptist religions and, as mentioned, brought more people into the churches, which means MORE MONEY. I think it was also important for the slaves to be able to almost embrace the Baptist religion. The Mormon religion is also very interesting and I find if bizaar that an American society would allow for multiple wives.
I think the greatest gift from the Second Great Awakening was the self-reliance it taught people. People were taught that they were not just promised heaven but would be judged on their actions. This line of thinking led people to be more accountable. This also led to the self-reliance economically that if you worked hard enough, you would be able to achieve whatever you wanted.
The "cheap grace" is an interesting concept that you touched upon. It seems almost like a liberal idea in that everyone should recieve the same rights and be equal, even if they don't go to church as much and aren't as active in church activities. But cheap grace is a funny idea, because people who always go to church may just go to feel good that they went. They may be half as religious as the next person who prays all the time but does not attend church.
I think that everyone has their own way of expressing their faith, and going to church and being seen "worshipping avidly" shouldn't be the two factors that determine how religious an individual is. So yes, everyone is entitlted to the same rights because everyone worships differently.
The Second Great Awakening also was important for U.S. history b/c people began to gain more of an incentive to "do well" in life b/c many people dropped the idea that you were predestined to go to heaven or hell when you were born.
Charles Finney definately knew how to convince people in order to get what he wanted. He wanted more people to come to his sermons and speeches but in order for that to happen the factory workers needed more time off from work. So he talked to the factory owners and conviced them to give the workers one day off a week, Sunday, as well as cut their work days from 12 hours a day to 8 hours a day.
Before reading about the second great awakening I was unaware of its impact on American society. The SGA lead our country in the right direction economically, socially and religiously. Reform in factories and home life came about after the SGA.
With the thought of your actions is what will get you to heaven, people began to take responsibility for their actions, but also the decline in attendance at church had a huge impact on women also. since most men did not attend church anymore, women took over the speaking roles only due to the absence of men. Once women start getting freedom and getting ideas then they begin to push towards equality.
I had no idea the second Great awakening was so important to America until reading about it, then talking about it during discussion. The turn out in churches grew dramatically, which brought them a lot more money.
I think that the Second Great Awakening had many positive impacts on the development of the United States, however, in the readings it mentioned that during this time a pastor wanted American government to become specifically Christian, and not surprisingly this soon happened. I don't think this was what the Deist founding fathers had in mind. I also thought it was quite ironic that before the Second Great Awakening people were less likely to be pressured to stay virgins before marriage, and this changed during and after the Second Great Awakening. I guess America hasn't always had the same abstinence values.
I think the second great awakening was important for even more than just getting people back in the seats at church and getting more money for the churches. It was a time when people took time to realize what was important to them. The mormon idea of having multiple wives doesn't seem cool to me, but it also isn't weird to me, I think that if you want to live you life like that then you should feel welcome to do so.
It was also very convenient that the Eerie Canal was built and allowed Charles Finney to travel across the nation in order to spread his religious views. It created unity between many people because they were all hearing the same message from Finney.
The importance of the Second Great Awakening wasn't placed solely in the continuous spread of religion, rather the unifying qualities of the event. Americans were more optimistic, knowing that their good deeds and innocent morals would be their ticket into heaven in the afterlife.
I had no idea there was even a Second Great Awakening during American History. But it seems like the same exact thing as last time to me, just with different people.
I found it interesting in the lecture Wednesday that improved ways of transportation, such as the Erie Canal, was a key part in widening the range of the Second Great Awakening. The "burned out district" in New York also displayed the strength of it and how numerous the relgious opinions were as the district was over-preached.
I believe it was good for the slaves to be able to have beliefs and be able to worship, because they were very limited on what they were allowed to do and say. The Second Great Awakening had a very big impact on women. They were now accounted for raising proper republican gentlemen. Which meant they also received an education. Women also became more involved in churches.
The second great awakening is one of the most influential movements in our country's history. It brought revivals of fading religions, and, most importantly, self reliance. I belive these factors played the biggest role by influencing generations to come.
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