AP Syllabus focus:
‘Democratic and individualistic beliefs, along with a reaction against rationalism, helped spur a Protestant revival known as the Second Great Awakening.’
Between 1800 and 1848, expanding democratic ideals, rising individualism, and widespread reactions against rationalist thought fostered a dynamic Protestant revival that reshaped American religion and culture.
Democratic and Individualistic Currents in Early-Nineteenth-Century America
The decades following the American Revolution saw citizens embrace democratic participation and individual autonomy more fully than in earlier eras. These developing attitudes set the stage for the Second Great Awakening, a widespread Protestant revival that emphasized personal choice, emotional conversion, and broad access to spiritual life.
“Camp meeting of the Methodists in N. America” (c.1819) shows an outdoor revival with tents, a preaching stand, and crowds of ordinary worshippers. The scene illustrates how camp meetings opened religious participation to a wide public, reflecting the era’s democratic and individualistic beliefs. Some architectural and costume details exceed the syllabus but help visualize the social environment of early revivalism. Source.
The movement resonated strongly because Americans increasingly believed that individuals—not institutions—should shape moral decisions and religious commitments.
The Growth of Democratic Beliefs
Democratic ideas deepened alongside social and political shifts of the early republic. The decline of older hierarchies encouraged people to question traditional authority in government, society, and religion. Expanding suffrage for White men promoted a cultural expectation that ordinary individuals could and should make meaningful choices. This atmosphere also fostered a spiritual environment in which ministers stressed that every person had the ability to pursue salvation.
Many revival preachers framed salvation as a universal opportunity, aligning with democratic aspirations.
Participation in revivals mirrored political participation, reinforcing self-expression and individual decision-making.
Ordinary citizens, not just elites, became influential in shaping local religious life.
Individualism and Personal Religious Agency
As market expansion and westward migration increased mobility, Americans became more accustomed to making independent choices about work, settlement, and family life. This broader culture of individualism also encouraged a shift toward personal religious autonomy. Rather than relying solely on clergy, Americans increasingly valued direct, emotional relationships with God.
Individualism: The belief that individuals possess the freedom and responsibility to make personal choices, including moral and religious decisions.
This individualistic ethos allowed revivalist ministers to insist that salvation depended on a person’s voluntary commitment rather than predetermined divine selection. That emphasis reflected a widespread desire for spiritual control amid rapid social changes.
Reactions Against Rationalism
The Second Great Awakening emerged partly in response to the spread of Enlightenment rationalism, which had influenced elite intellectual and religious circles in the late eighteenth century. Many Americans perceived rationalism as cold, overly intellectual, and disconnected from emotional or moral experience. This sentiment helped fuel a revival culture that prioritized spiritual feeling, accessible preaching, and community participation.
Enlightenment Legacies and Popular Discontent
Rationalist ideas had shaped the thinking of some Founding generation leaders, promoting skepticism toward religious enthusiasm and encouraging a more restrained, deistic view of God. By 1800, however, many Americans grew frustrated with this emphasis on reason, believing it neglected the emotional and moral dimensions of human life.
Rationalism appeared tied to elite culture, making it less relatable to ordinary people.
The growth of democratic sensibilities produced resistance to intellectual authority in religious matters.
Many Americans viewed rationalism as insufficient for addressing the uncertainties of economic change and mobility.
These reactions encouraged communities to seek churches and preachers offering emotional support, moral certainty, and engaging messages of hope.
Revivalism as a Response to Rational Thought
Revival preachers such as Charles Grandison Finney promoted a style of worship that contrasted sharply with rationalist traditions.
This mid-19th-century portrait shows Charles Grandison Finney, one of the most influential revival preachers of the Second Great Awakening. Finney’s emphasis on emotional preaching, individual decision for salvation, and mass urban revivals exemplified the movement’s democratic and individualistic spirit. The portrait does not depict a revival scene but anchors the study of these developments in the life of a key leader. Source.
Sermons featured direct appeals, emotional oratory, and dramatic calls for conversion. This approach welcomed individuals from varied social backgrounds and affirmed the democratic principle that each person could choose salvation.
Revivalism: A religious movement marked by emotional preaching, enthusiastic worship, and calls for personal conversion.
Revivalism’s popularity reflected the desire for religious experiences that were participatory rather than passive. It also fostered new opportunities for lay involvement—women, young people, and those outside established congregations often played central roles in organizing and sustaining local revivals.
How Democratic and Anti-Rationalist Forces Shaped Religious Change
The convergence of democratic expectations, individual autonomy, and anti-rationalist sentiment transformed American Protestantism. Revivalist religion became deeply intertwined with the belief that ordinary people could act as agents of spiritual and social improvement.
Popular Access and Moral Reform
Because revivals emphasized personal commitment, they laid the groundwork for broader reform movements. Many who experienced conversion came to believe that individuals had a duty to improve themselves and, by extension, society.
Revival meetings encouraged widespread participation, drawing large, diverse audiences.
This 1839 watercolor shows a religious camp meeting with crowds gathered around a preacher, reflecting the mass participation characteristic of the Second Great Awakening. It demonstrates how revivalism relied on outdoor gatherings where individuals publicly embraced conversion. Landscape and crowd details extend beyond syllabus requirements but deepen understanding of the revival setting. Source.
Moral reform campaigns—such as temperance and Sabbath observance—emerged from revivalist networks.
The emphasis on voluntary choice inspired the creation of new religious denominations and local congregations.
Community Building and Social Cohesion
The Second Great Awakening helped strengthen communities by providing shared rituals, common goals, and collective moral frameworks. Revivalist gatherings fostered relationships across class boundaries and reinforced the idea that all believers were spiritually equal. These developments reflected the democratic and individualistic forces shaping American society and illustrated how reactions against rationalism could generate powerful collective energy.
FAQ
Many laypeople acted as informal organisers, hosting prayer meetings, sharing printed sermons, and encouraging neighbours to attend revivals.
They also circulated religious tracts and hymnals, allowing revival ideas to travel faster than ordained ministers could.
Women in particular played a key role by sustaining devotional circles and local benevolent groups that linked households to revival networks.
Frontier settlements lacked established churches, making flexible, lay-led worship appealing. Revivalists offered accessible preaching that required no formal religious infrastructure.
These communities valued independence, making the emphasis on personal salvation and voluntary moral reform especially attractive.
Revival meetings also provided rare opportunities for social gathering, strengthening community cohesion in isolated regions.
Revivalists argued that personal responsibility for repentance strengthened, rather than weakened, moral discipline.
They taught that true conversion would naturally produce orderly behaviour and commitment to ethical living.
Some promoted structured practices such as public testimonies or commitments to moral societies, blending personal choice with communal accountability.
Revivalists rejected the idea that only highly educated clergy could authoritatively interpret Scripture.
They encouraged ordinary people to testify, pray aloud, and participate directly in shaping religious life.
This shift weakened the dominance of older, elite-controlled denominations and expanded influence toward more democratic, populist religious movements.
Emotional preaching was seen as a corrective to the perceived coldness of Enlightenment rationalism, appealing to listeners’ hearts as well as their minds.
It allowed ministers to communicate urgency about salvation, encouraging immediate decisions rather than extended doctrinal study.
Techniques such as vivid storytelling, direct appeals, and dramatic vocal shifts helped reach diverse audiences, including those with limited formal education.
Practice Questions
Question 1 (1–3 marks):
Identify one way in which democratic or individualistic beliefs contributed to the rise of the Second Great Awakening in the early nineteenth century United States.
Question 1 (1–3 marks)
• 1 mark for identifying a relevant democratic or individualistic belief (e.g., belief in personal choice, equality of spiritual opportunity).
• 1 additional mark for linking this belief to religious participation (e.g., emphasis on personal conversion, ordinary people shaping religious life).
• 1 additional mark for explaining how this contributed to the rise or appeal of the Second Great Awakening (e.g., ministers preached accessible salvation; revivals empowered individuals outside traditional hierarchies).
Question 2 (4–6 marks):
Explain how reactions against Enlightenment rationalism helped shape the message and methods of revivalist leaders during the Second Great Awakening. In your response, refer to specific features of revival preaching or religious practice in this period.
Question 2 (4–6 marks)
• 1 mark for identifying Enlightenment rationalism as an intellectual movement emphasising reason and elite-led religion.
• 1 mark for describing opposition or reaction to rationalism (e.g., belief that it was cold, elitist, detached from emotional experience).
• 1 mark for explaining how revivalists responded through emotionally driven preaching or enthusiastic worship.
• 1 mark for giving a specific example of revivalist practice or method (e.g., camp meetings, call-and-response, dramatic appeals for conversion).
• 1 mark for explaining how these methods reinforced broader popular participation or spiritual equality.
• 1 mark for making a clear connection between anti-rationalist sentiment and the broader popularity or spread of the Second Great Awakening.
