The Second Great Awakening: A Period Of Reform

To reform is to make changes in something, typically a social, political, or economic institution or practice in order to improve it. America has reformed itself in multiple ways throughout history. In the era surrounding the Second Great Awakening, America was undergoing a period of reform. This period of reformation included new and, at the time, radical ideas. Examples include: evangelists, tax-supported public education, and the advocation for women’s suffrage. Furthermore, the temperance movement, abolitionists, and transcendentalism were other examples of reform during this time. Evangelists, tax-supported public education, and the advocation for women’s suffrage were all examples of America’s reformation. An evangelist is a person

The American Temperance Society was formed at Boston in 1826 and within a few years, about a thousand local groups existed. Temperance crusaders made effective use of pictures, pamphlets, and lecturers. The temperance movement reformed America in line with the other movements of the time. In fact, many of the same people were fighting for multiple causes. According to northern historians writing in the late nineteenth century, “Abolitionists were courageous men and women so devoted to uprooting the evil of slavery that they were willing to dedicate their lives to a cause that often ostracized them from their communities.” This quote shows how the people working to reform had to work at it full-time. The abolitionists working to abolish slavery, eventually had one of the greatest affects on the reformation of America. The reform of abolishing slavery was able to change the course of history. Transcendentalism, by definition, is the literary and intellectual movement that emphasized individualism and self-reliance, predicated upon a belief that each person possesses an “inner-light” that can point the way to truth and direct contact with God. This idea reformed America through its affect on the government. People involved with the transcendentalism reformed America through the spread of this new idea. The idea of self-reliance and individualism led to people living out on their own out and discovering how to survive, a change in society. America’s reformation during the period surrounding the Second Great Awakening involved the temperance movement, abolitionists, and