2. Second Great Awakening
Began in New England in the 1790s, but spread
across the country
Camp meetings became common:
Large audiences listened to many different preachers
Speakers called on worshippers to ask for forgiveness &
prepare for the Second Coming
Largest meeting took place in Kentucky in 1801
3. Second Great Awakening
Charles Finney:
Former lawyer & gifted
speaker
Used language that all
could understand
Advocated that anyone
could achieve salvation
Argued that human nature
was not necessarily
dominated by sin
Eventually became
president of Oberlin College
5. Shaker Society
Established a number of
communities in several
states
Hoped to be self-sufficient &
became known for their
furniture & handicrafts
The movement peaked
between 1820-1860
6. Era of Reform
There were many groups
attempting to improve
society, including followers
of:
Temperance
Public Education
Abolition
Women’s Rights
7. Alcohol & Temperance
Alcohol abuse was
seen as a major
problem
Religious reformers
saw alcohol
consumption as
immoral
Factory owners
complained about
productivity & quality
8. Alcohol & Temperance
The American Society for the
Promotion of Temperance
began in 1826:
Encouraged abstinence pledges
Lobbied states for the
prohibition of alcohol
Rates of alcohol consumption
had dropped in half by the
1840s
9. Public Education
For many years, public
education was considered to
be a family’s responsibility &
was not required
Horace Mann became a
leading reformer in
Massachusetts & the US
10. Mann’s Education Reforms
School attendance was
made mandatory & the
school year was extended
Curriculum was standardized
& began to emphasize
practical education
Many states adopted similar
reforms in order to educate
children & assimilate
immigrants
11. Abolition
Quakers advocated the
abolition of slavery in the
years following the American
Revolution
American Colonization
Society called for the removal
of free blacks from the US
12. American Colonization Society
Founded in 1817
Believed in the following:
Gradual emancipation of slaves
with compensation for slave
owners
Former slaves should be
transported to the African nation of
Liberia
Slavery was wrong, yet blacks
were inferior to whites
13. American Colonization Society
Paul Cuffe provided ships &
money to former slaves
hoping to travel to Liberia
Not many slaves earned
their freedom – it was very
expensive
Many former slaves had no
desire to live in Africa
14. Abolition
Black abolitionists such as
David Walker, Sojourner
Truth, & Frederick Douglass
were also active
William Lloyd Garrison called
for the immediate abolition of
slavery
15. Women in the Abolition Movement
Angelina Grimke was born to
a slave-holding family in
South Carolina
She & her sister spoke to
anti-slavery audiences
Some criticized the Grimke
sisters for speaking to mixed
audiences
16. Women’s Rights
Margaret Fuller received an
education in the classics
Wrote that women must be
allowed to develop their own
intellectual abilities
Other women’s rights
advocated included Lucretia
Mott & Elizabeth Cady Stanton
17. Seneca Falls Convention
Held in Seneca Falls,
NY in 1848
Participants protested
women’s lack of
property rights &
suffrage
Created a Declaration
of Sentiments – “All
men & women are
created equal”