The Second Great Awakening positively affected American culture. It is known for their revivals and their religious turn around, as well as how the culture of American people changed. Revivals were these camp meetings that 100s-1000s of people attended. There was singing, preaching, emotions and conversions. The Second Great Awakening was about people changing their freedom. Also, during that time, women and African American roles improved. It gave an enhancement to Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians, it rejected predestination and believed that individuals could triumph over sin.
During the movement, it emphasized emotion. Charles Grandison Finney once said, “Religion is the work of man. It is something for man to do” (Notes). He also believed that every one was a “moral free agent” – ‘that is, a person free to choose between a Christian life and sin’” (Foner, 272). He also came up with “new measures,” they “triggered alarm among conservative clergy” (Charles Grandison Finney Article). The new measures were to watch what the ministry was doing and if they were doing something that was not for the people to say something. He believed that God offered himself to everyone and we can only be saved through him (Charles Grandison Finney Article).
…show more content…
It “encouraged identification of American freedom without the absence of restraints on self-directed individuals seeking economic and personal development” (Foner, 267). There are many things that the American culture is trying to do to become a culture where people have their right to do what they want because before the revivals they did not do too much, all the people did were work, cook and clean, there was nothing much to do unless you were an elite. So, for everyone else this was something that everyone was really into because it gave them something to do. The Second Great Awakening emphasized personal faithfulness over schooling and