Second Great Awakening

The Second Great Awakening was the second great religious revival in United States history and consisted of several kinds of activity.

 In New England, the renewed interest in religion inspired a wave of social activism. Social activism inspired by the revival gave rise to abolition groups and temperance organizations, as well as efforts to reform prisons and care for the handicapped and mentally ill.

In western New York, the spirit of revival encouraged the emergence of new denominations.

In the Appalachian region of Kentucky and Tennessee, the revival strengthened the Methodists and the Baptists and led to a new form of religious expression—the camp meeting. As a result of these meetings, many people converted. This is also the time when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Seventh Day Adventists began.

The Second Great Awakening exercised a profound impact on American history. The numerical strength of the Baptists and others rose to match those of the Anglicans and other colonial era religions. These new religious groups would lead efforts to apply Christian teaching towards the resolution of social problems of the late 19th century.

America was becoming a more diverse nation in the early to mid-19th century, and the growing differences within American Protestantism reflected and contributed to this diversity.