Religious Zeal and New Communities

1. Religious Zeal and New Communities Richard Zhang, Jason Concannon, Francis Convery, Sam Rosen

2. The Second Great Awakening • A new renewed interest in religion • Started in 1790 in upstate New York • spread south and west • People gathered at revivals, large religious gatherings • Priests traveled around preaching • Charles Grandison Finney delivered hundreds of sermons in the 1820s and 1830s • Many new Protestant denominations- religious groups

3. Causes of the Awakening • The Awakening was due to increased democracy in America • The economic growth sparked optimism which started the 2nd Great Awakening • Powerful sermons caused many people to convert • These sermons convinced people that the common man could seek salvation and improve their own lives • They also believed that people and society could be moral • These are very democratic ideas

4. Women and African Americans • Women a large part of the Great Awakening • Female converts outnumbered males 3:2 • Taught Sunday schools • Supported missionary societies • Jarena Lee, a Methodist African American Woman was compelled to preach by a "heavenly voice" • African Americans also joined Baptist Methodist churches • In 1794, Richard Allen founded the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Philly, one of the first African American churches. • Later became own denomination, African Methodist Episcopal Church.

5. Issues with the Great Awakening and Slavery • The Great Revival was met with mixed reactions by slaveholders • Some wanted their slaves to convert to Christianity • Others feared that the Bible would give the slaves ideas of equality, and they would revolt • Although Protestants stressed reading of the Bible, teaching slaves to read was outlawed to prevent revolts • many slaves, even though Christian, could not read the Bible

6. Utopias • This new optimism caused people to form utopias-communities designed to create a perfect society • more than 90 popped up between 1800-1850 • Experimented with new ways of organizing family, property ownership, and work

7. Shakers • Officially called The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearance • Believed that the millennium, when Jesus would return to earth to rule, was about to begin • Known as Shakers because they shook in worship • They came from Britain in 1774 • Led by Anna Lee (Mother Ann), who claimed to be the messiah who came to free society from sin

8. Shakers (cont.) • They inspired interest in utopias because of they tried to have equal and moral societies • Reached a peak membership of 5000-6000 • Lived simply, and had different but equal roles for men and women • People owned property jointly • Declined after 1860 since they did not marry, have kids or attract new members

9. Mormons • Known as the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints • Mormonism was a religion that started around the time of the 2nd Great Awakening • Joseph Smith, claimed he had found golden plates containing religious teachings • He then said he translated these into The Book of Mormon with divine assistance • Started the first Mormon congregation in New York in 1830

10. Mormons (cont.) • The Mormons also tried to form a Utopia • Attracted many converts • emphasized hard work and community • The practice of one man having many wives outraged others • This lead to opposition, often violent, wherever they tried to set up a religious community • In 1844, a mob in Carthage, Illinois, killed Smith • The Mormons, led by Brigham Young, endured and settled in the Salt Lake Area

11. Transcendentalism • Transcendentalism- the philosophy that people could transcend and approach perfection by acquiring knowledge about the universe, God, and themselves • Led by German philosopher Immanuel Kant, British romantic poets, and New England intellectuals (Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau etc.) • Roots in Unitarianism • A movement that started in N.E. in the late 1700s • They rejected predestination and believed that people could become perfect

12. Brook Farm • Many Unitarians, such as Emerson, broke off to become Transcendentalists • He believed that people should seek spiritual unification with God through a bond with nature • Following Emerson's advice, Unitarian minister George Ripley founded Brook Farm • one of the most famous utopian communities • founded in 1841 for Transcendentalists • Tried to live close to nature • Dedicated to education and self-development • People shared farm chores to allow time for study • and personal exploration • The experiment ended after a fire in 1846

13. Recap • Second Great Awakening • People attended revivals, new interest in religion • Caused by increase in democracy • Many people, including African Americans and women, converted and formed new denominations • Utopias and New Religions • Shakers sparked interest in utopias • Mormons tried to form a Utopian community too, but were resisted • Transcendentalism • Believed that people could approach perfection • Began as Unitarianism • Brook Farm was a utopia that tried to foster learning