The Second Great Awakening and Antebellum Reforms

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The Second Great Awakening and Antebellum Reforms

• Mr. Bach
• Hudson High School
• Accelerated United States History

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Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom (1786)

• Be it enacted by General Assembly that no man
  shall be compelled to frequent or support any
  religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever,
  nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or
  burthened in his body or goods, nor shall
  otherwise suffer on account of his religious
  opinions or belief, but that all men shall be
  free to profess, and by argument to maintain,
  their opinions in matters of Religion, and that
  the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge or
  affect their civil capacities.

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Charles Finney The New York Evangelist - 1834

• 1 A revival always includes conviction of sin on
  the part of the church.
• 2 Backslidden Christians will be brought to
  repentance.
• 3 Christians will have their faith renewed.
• 4 A revival breaks the power of the world and of
  sin over Christians.
• 5 The worst parts of human society are softened
  and reclaimed, and made to appear as lovely
  specimens of the beauty of holiness

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Shakers
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Millerites
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Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
Joseph Smith
Brigham Young
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Brook Farm
Haven of Transcendentalism and the American
Renaissance
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Spirtualism
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The Second Great Awakening (2GA) sparks
Antebellum Reform Movements
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(No Transcript)
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Temperance Movement
The Daughters of Temperance
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Abolitionism
I shall strenuously contend for the immediate
enfranchisement of our slave population. In
Park-street Church, on the Fourth of July, 1829,
in an address on slavery, I unreflectingly
assented to the popular but pernicious doctrine
of gradual abolition. I seize this opportunity to
make a full and unequivocal recantation, and thus
publicly to ask pardon of my God, of my country,
and of my brethren the poor slaves, for having
uttered a sentiment so full of timidity,
injustice and absurdity. "I do not wish to think,
or speak, or write, with moderation. . . . I am
in earnest -- I will not equivocate -- I will not
excuse -- I will not retreat a single inch -- AND
I WILL BE HEARD."
William Lloyd Garrison First Issue of the
Liberator - 1831
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Womens Rights
We hold these truths to be self-evident that all
men and women are created equal that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable
rights that among these are life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness. Such has been the
patient sufferance of the women under this
government, and such is now the necessity which
constrains them to demand the equal station to
which they are entitled. The history of mankind
is a history of repeated injuries and usurpation
on the part of man toward woman, having in direct
object the establishment of an absolute tyranny
over her.
Declaration of Sentiments Seneca Falls
Conference (1848)
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Issue 1

• In order for a republic to function properly, it
  is necessary to have a set moral code.
• Support, Modify, Refute.

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Benjamin Rush Of the Mode of Education Proper
in a Republic - 1798

• I proceed in the next place, to enquire, what
  mode of education we shall adopt so as to secure
  to the state all the advantages that are to be
  derived from the proper instruction of youth and
  here I beg leave to remark, that the only
  foundation for a useful education in a republic
  is to be laid in Religion. Without this there can
  be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no
  liberty, and liberty is the object and life of
  all republican governments. Such is my veneration
  for every religion that reveals the attributes of
  the Deity, or a future state of rewards and
  punishments, that I had rather see the opinions
  of Confucius or Muhammad inculcated upon our
  youth, than see them grow up wholly devoid of a
  system of religious principles. But the religion
  I mean to recommend in this place, is that of the
  New Testament.

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Issue 2

• If American voters, such as Evangelicals, cast
  their vote according to their religious beliefs,
  it is dangerous for the republic.
• Support, Modify, Refute

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Issue 3

• If Hudson City School District were to vote for a
  prayer to be read prior to graduation, would it
  be a violation of the First Amendment?
• In the 19th Century?
• Now?

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Issue 4

• The Evangelical Movement has been beneficial for
  the American republic.
• Support, Modify, Refute

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Issue 5

• Is the United States a Christian nation?
• 19th Century?
• Now?

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2013 Survey Data (Gallup and Harris)

• Of Americans
• 74 believe in God (51 in Europe)
• 83 are Christians (26 in Europe)
• 13 have no religion
• 4 (Jews, Muslim, Hindus, Buddhists, etc.)
• 53 reject evolution