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Second Great Awakening And Transcendentalism

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Recommended: The influence of transcendentalism

Alejandro Garcia
Dr. Haas
History 102
21 April 2016
The New America
The Constitution of America clearly states in the first amendment that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise”. As a result from this, throughout the 1790s until the 1830s many religious rose up and became known by the power of this amendment. This rise of different religious that really shook America and change the country forever is known as the Second Great Awakening. At the beginning of the American revolution the largest well known religious in America known at that time were the Congregationalist, who are related to the earlier people who came to America know as the Puritans, Anglicans as well those known …show more content…

Another big reform that took place was Transcendentalism which was mainly about praising the divine equality of each soul. Unlike many other religions that believe in predestination, transcendentalism there is no real division between saved and damned,anyone could have a transcendent experience and could connected to the spiritual world based on their lifestyle. Transcendentalism was a very comforting ideal as a philosophy for a nation like America which believes that all men are created equal and have the same inalienable rights. The transcendentalist movement began to cross paths with the antebellum efforts toward social reform as perceived in that point of view, that if all men and women were spiritually equal from birth as they believed, all men and women must deserve to be treated with social and political equality as well no matter who they …show more content…

However, Transcendentalism was extremely against the rise of the every and any scientific method that was placed most value on material facts rather than any spiritual ideals. Very few Transcendentalists, were involved in the growing disputes between labor and capital,also the reformation of asylums and penitentiaries, or other matters on a reformist agenda.Many Transcendentalists because of this basic belief became involved in efforts to reverse conditions that prevented individuals from realizing their full potential.
Comparing many reforms, they all seemed to have very common themes and assumptions, one of the most important of the similarities was how each reform would be very passionate about their belief that individuals are able to act as free decision makers, capable of choosing right from wrong, and not be manipulated by anyone who can use them as puppets that tell them what to think see and believe. This logic helps explain the close connection between abolitionists and reforms such as the women’s rights

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Transcendentalism is a highly competitive world of the market revolution which strongly encouraged the identification of American freedom without any restraints on people who were seeking financial improvement and personal development. It was a world in which regional developments along with the market revolution crushed traditional and social borders. For example moving from one place to another was a common characteristic of the American life. Transcendentalism believed in individual judgment over existing social traditions and institutions.

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In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s reformers in the United States were trying different methods to advance the country. The reformers had different goals such as earning women suffrage and assisting the poor. The reformers had their methods to help bring about change in society. Reformers had different goals and methods to help change the society.

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Religion inspired movements to reform society. Both the abolitionist movement the women’s rights movement were inspired by religion because the Second Great Awakening focused on transcendentalism, or the ability for anyone to connect and form a relationship with god. This idea allowed both African Americans and women to take on more religious, social, and political responsibilities and rights. The temperance movement was inspired religion because of the idea of perfectibility, or bettering one’s self.

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At the beginning of the nineteenth century, American society began to focus on the welfare of minority groups. Women’s suffrage and abolition were rooted as deeply as the history of America, but asylum and prison reform sprouted with the Second Great Awakening, a movement that occurred in the early 1800s. The Second Great Awakening was led by religious leaders who advocated for changes in American society through the unity of the American people (Doc. Due to the Second Great Awakening, reform movements were established between 1825 and 1850 in order to represent the changes the people sought for in the issues of slavery, suffrage, and asylum and prison reform. The social aspect of the abolition movement led to the visible democratic changes in society and politics.

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Transcendentalist were known to be passionate in the social reform movement, human rights, education, abolishment and women's right. They had a view that all human being were deserving of the ability to be fully human. Surprisingly, Fredrick Douglass is a name that also sees the world in a very similar way as a Transcendentalist. Douglass' views on human nature and the future of the United States are parallel with the views of the Transcendental movement. One of the themes in Douglass' writing was the relationship between human nature and the power it had.

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The Second Great Awakening, was one that once again sparked religion. It helped people come together once again under the faith, uniting them. The South began to create emotional camp meeting, where 1000’s would gather in search of religion whether it came in the form of Baptism, Presbyterianism, or Methodist faith. The camps provided an outlet for rural people, and those whose lives were lonely.

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Richard Kaplan also said, “the theological belief in the potential mutability, indeed perfectibility, of people also encouraged a reforming attitude toward social institutions. Humanity and earthly society were not inherently sinful and, thus, could and should be reformed.” With the new quantity of religious people, the belief that there should no longer be sinful or unjust things grew tremendously. With this belief, people began to believe that things that needed to be reformed, should be reformed. The Second Great Awakening sparked a nationwide wave of reform movements that had a huge impact on American society throughout the 19th century.

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Have you ever thought of what was the start of your school, or how the inventions that are regular to us today were made, or why you can vote? The truth is, some of these things were born from the Age of Reform, and the movements I’m focussing on are the Temperance and Abolition Movement. The sort of meaning for these two movements were because of huge ethical problems in society. Both movements have their similarities and differences, but the most intriguing comparisons are their motives, their end effects, and their end game compared to their starting intentions. The motives of the two movements are sort of connected to themselves.

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This newfound freedom in the Protestant sector of Religion inspired the Methodists to create a legacy and reform their ways to keep up with the newly evolved America. Presbyterians eventually got involved in the evolution of the churches as well, making sure their blatant dis-agreeance to slavery was well understood. As a result of the war, Thomas Jefferson made a pass at enforcing a bill to eradicate England’s monopoly on American Religion. The bill was originally written in 1779, but was turned down due to its wild and uncommon nature. The bill was to allow townspeople to choose which church and church like entity their money would support instead of all the money from taxes going to England and English churches that the Americans no longer wished to be part of.

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In the wake of the second Great Awakening in the early 1800’s, societal morals regarding slavery, lack of rights for women, the prison system, education, and other institutions were questioned. Unitarianism stressed salvation through good works, and both religious converts and transcendentalists initiated social reform movements in an attempt to improve the moral state of America. Two of these movements that included perhaps the most controversy and struggle included abolitionism and women’s rights. Although both the abolitionist and women’s rights movements were able to eventually create lasting societal and political change, the fact that only a small portion of the population had any democratic rights showed the initial weaknesses of American democracy.

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Transcendentalists were Americans that believed everyone should be treated equally, so they began six major reform movements. There were many Transcendentalist movements, but the six most important reforms were the prison movement, women’s rights, anti-slavery, temperance, insane and education movement. The prison reform movement was started by the Transcendentalists because they felt that the system was wrong unfair and cruel. All prisoners suffered the same consequences regardless of his or her crime.

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