Cause and Effect Essay Although the Second Great Awakening was immediately caused by heightened religious fervor, and although it left the country with many Christian denominations, the acts of leaders such as Charles Finney had more influential causes, and reform movements had more powerful effects on the United States. The first spark of the Second Great Awakening was lit when President Thomas Jefferson, in the early 1800s, acknowledged the “wall of separation between church and state,” the budding republican ideal that politics and religion should not interlock. By coining this phrase, Jefferson was ridding the country of state-controlled established churches that expected loyalty from all citizens, thus paving the way for religious freedom. Also, Jefferson identified as a deist, which was a recent and nontraditional religious orientation that rejected divine revelation and focused on nature to reveal God’s scheme for the universe. Subsequently, the Awakening commenced to muster speed in the 1820s, when the preaching of Charles Finney could be heard throughout the unyielding burned-over district, which flowed with the bracing waters of religious revivalism. The burned-over district was located on the Erie …show more content…
After the Awakening, African American religious participation increased abundantly, adding ambitious fire to the amplifying abolition advancement and inspiring Northerners to fight slavery. In addition, women were tremendously involved and began to obtain jobs such as prayer leaders and preachers, leading to the women’s rights movement that was instituted with the signing of the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions at the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention. Temperance was also an effect of the Awakening, as Americans began to view abstinence from alcohol as religious observance. Congress members agreed to the temperance pledge, and the Army cancelled alcohol