Chapter 15 Quiz - Second Great Awakening

What were these "camp meetings"?

As many as twenty-five thousand people would gather for an encampment of several days to drink the frothy gospel as served up by an itinerant preacher. Thousands of spiritually starved souls "got religion" at these gatherings. In their ecstasy, they engaged in dancing.

How did revivals also further the fragmentation of religious faiths?

Because Western New York, where many descendants of New England Puritans had settled, was so blistered by sermonizers preaching "hellfire and damnation" that it came to be known as the Burned-Over District.

Why did a crisis develop when the Washington government was unable to control the hierarchy of Brigham Young, who had been made territorial governor in 1850?

Because a federal army marched in 1857 against the Mormons. Fortunately the quarrel was finally adjusted without serious bloodshed. The Mormons later ran afoul of the anti-polygamy laws passed by Congress in 1862 and 1882, and their unique marital customs delayed statehood for Utah until 1896.

How did the Second Great Awakening tend to widen the lines between classes and regions?

Because the more prosperous and conservative denominations in the East were somewhat less shaken by revivalism, and Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and Unitarians continued to rise mostly from the wealthier, urbanized, better-educated levels of society. Methodists, Baptists, and the members of the other new sects spawned by the swelling evangelistic fervor tended to come from less prosperous, less "learned" communities in the rural South and West.

After the death of Joseph Smith, what happened?

Brigham Young took over as the leader of the Mormons. He quickly proved to be an aggressive leader, an eloquent preacher, and a gifted administrator.

What did Charles Grandison Finney do?

Finney held huge crowds spellbound with the power of his oratory and the pungency of his message. He led massive revivals in Rochester and New York City in 1830 and 1831. Finney preached a version of the old-time religion, but he was also an innovator. Holding out the promise of a perfect Christian kingdom on earth, Finney denounced both alcohol and slavery. He eventually served as president of Oberlin College in Ohio, which he helped to make a hotbed of revivalist activity and abolitionism.

How did changes in religion arise during this time?

For the great many affected by Calvinism, the doctrines of predestination and human depravity had always been thorny, even gloomy. During this time, however, Protestants began to move toward a view of humanity that stressed the essential goodness of human nature rather than its vileness, that emphasized the possibility of salvation through good works, and that pictured God not as a stern Creator but as a loving Father.

After establishing a religious oligarchy, how did Joseph Smith run into serious opposition from his non-Mormon neighbors?

He first received opposition in Ohio and then in Missouri and Illinois. His cooperative sect antagonized rank-and-file Americans, who were individualistic and dedicated to free enterprise. The Mormons aroused further anger by voting as a unit and by openly but understandably drilling their militia for defensive purposes. Accusations of polygamy likewise arose and increased in intensity, for Joseph Smith was reputed to have several wives.

Determined to escape further persecution, what did Brigham Young do in 1846-1847?

He led his oppressed and despoiled Mormons over vast rolling plains to Utah. Overcoming pioneer hardships, the Mormons soon made the desert bloom by means of ingenious and cooperative methods of irrigation. Semiarid Utah grew remarkably. By the end of 1848, some five thousand settlers had arrived, and other large bands were to follow them. The community became a prosperous frontier theocracy and a cooperative commonwealth. The population was further swelled by thousands of immigrants from Europe, where the Mormons had established a flourishing missionary movement.

Who was Joseph Smith?

He was a rugged visionary who reported that he had received some golden plates from an angel. When deciphered, they constituted the Book of Mormon, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons) was launched. It was a native American product, a new religion, destined to spread its influence worldwide.

Who was Charles Grandison Finney?

He was the greatest of the revival preachers. Trained as a lawyer, Finney abandoned the bar to become an evangelist after a deeply moving conversion experience as a young man.

How did continuing hostility finally drive the Mormons to desperate measures?

In 1844 Joseph Smith and his brother were murdered and mangled by a mob in Carthage, Illinois, and the movement seemed near collapse.

What was "The Age of Reason" (1794)?

It was Thomas Paine's widely circulated book that had shockingly declared that all churches were set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.

What was the Second Great Awakening?

It was one of the most momentous episodes in the history of American religion. This tidal wave of spiritual fervor left in its wake countless converted souls, many shattered and reorganized churches, and numerous new sects. It also encouraged a lively evangelicalism that bubbled up into innumerable areas of American life - including prison reform, the temperance cause, the women's movement, and the crusade to abolish slavery.

What was Deism?

Many of the Founding Fathers, including Jefferson and Franklin, embraced the liberal doctrines of Deism that Paine promoted. Deists relied on reason rather than revelation, on science rather than the Bible. They rejected the concept of original sin and denied Christ's divinity. Yet Deists believed in a Supreme Being who had created a knowable universe and endowed human beings with a capacity for moral behavior.

During the eighteenth century, such sentiments flourished among America's newer denominations. What were some of these new denominations?

Methodists - believe in being one with God Baptists Unitarians - only believe Jesus was a messenger Millenialists 0 they thought the end was near

Which religious sects gained the most souls from the revivalism?

Methodists and Baptists. Both sects stressed personal conversion, a relatively democratic control of church affairs, and a rousing emotionalism.

Were these "camp meetings" effective?

Yes, the revivals boosted church membership and further buttressed the nation's religious core. Countless Americans heeded God's call. They joined reform-minded benevolent societies and carried their missionary creed to Africa, Asia, Hawaii, and to the Indian tribes of the American West.

Overall, what did this ferment propel?

a wave of roaring revivals during the early decades of the nineteenth century - the Second Great Awakening.

How was the Second Great Awakening spread to the masses?

by huge "camp meetings".

What was a key feature in the Second Great Awakening?

the feminization of religion, in terms of both church membership and theology. Middle-class women, the wives and daughters of businessmen, were the first and most fervent enthusiasts of religious revivalism. They made up the majority of new church members, and they were most likely to stay within the fold when the tents were packed up and the traveling evangelists left town.

Like the First Great Awakening, the Second Great Awakening tended to widen...?

the lines between classes and regions.

Where else did these new beliefs make their way into?

the older and more rigidly hewn pulpits and pews of the Puritan churches: Presbyterian and Congregationalist.

During this time, what had a great influence on religion in America?

the rationalist ideas of the French Revolutionary era.

Overall, what was the Second Great Awakening a reaction to?

the secularism of the end of the 18th century.

How did evangelists preach a gospel of female spiritual worth?

they offered women an active role in bringing their husbands and families back to God. That accomplished, many women turned to saving the rest of society. They formed a host of benevolent and charitable organizations and spearheaded crusades for most, if not all, of the era's ambitious reforms.

How did religious diversity further reflect social splits?

when the churches faced up to the slavery issue. By 1844-1845 both the southern Baptists and the southern Methodists had split with their northern brethren over human bondage. The secession of the southern churches foreshadowed the secession of the southern states. First, the churches split, then the political parties split, and then the Union split.