The Great Awakening shaped the thoughts of people and religion laying down the foundations and development of today's religious establishments and beliefs in America. Unlike the First Great Awakening in 1740, which was a reaction to the Enlightenment that meant increasing church membership, the second one in 1790 was more of a religious revival affecting the religions in the colonies. People were encouraged to rely personally on God rather than ministers. It introduced religious ideas that significantly impacted Christianity. Many people did not attend religious services in the late 1700 since they weren't aware of God and His deeds, this decreased religious convictions leading to the establishment of religious revivals which would advocate dependence on God by human beings condemning their unrighteous lives of pride and inhumanity, in some way it addressed the rich who were slave owners. They would encourage people to return to God and have faith in God instead of creating their doctrine. This would aim at increasing church attendance, with the women being involved in the revival.
In Hollitz's book, Thinking Through the Past, Peter Cartwright who was a Methodist Preacher carried with him the 'Methodist Discipline,' which was a code of behavior for members of the church while describing the rules for personal conduct, this promoted the moral order in the church mainly in rural and western areas where he evangelized in 1798. According to Hollitz's book, there was only one condition required for those who desired admission to societies which was 'A desire to flee from the wrath to come, and to be saved from their sins.” [footnoteRef:2]This meant that everyone who lived by this had to show the desire for salvation. They were taught how to avoid doing harm and evil. This is like today’s Ten Commandments of the church that helps people seek holiness and guide their lives meaning that while you break any of the commandments a punishment is bestowed on you unless you repent. The Methodist Discipline condemned various practices such as buying and selling people to enslave them which saw some of the slaveowners free their slaves. This helped in the respect of human rights and created awareness of what God wanted His people to do and they will He had on them. Any kind of violence that was prohibited would lead to the deaths of people and the destruction of property which was against God’s will. This would enhance peaceful relations among themselves thus more engagement. These codes were more limiting on how to live which saw some people stick with the church, others joined the church, and of course, some leave after they found that the church was so strict over them. They also insisted on rules concerning dress and that those who left off superfluous ornaments should be ticketed, and they should all read thoughts]upon dress at least once a year. They were also given directions on the sale and use of spiritual drinks in which anyone who was convicted of transacting under his roof would be suspended, censured, and even excluded in case of immoralities. All this was aimed at decreasing evil acts in society and living a purposeful life with God and what was expected of the church members. [2: John Hollitz, Thinking Through the Past: The Second Great Awakening. Cengage Learning, 2015, 156. Hollitz, Thinking Through the Past,159.]
Prophet Nephi in his, Book of Mormon, predicts how modern churches will be and the path to salvation in 1830. It comes with different themes about the church. He writes that 'Men are free according to the flesh and all things are given them are expedient unto man.”2
This meant that everyone had to choose between liberty and eternal life or captivity and death by the life they lead and by all means they should know good from evil knowing the Messiah will redeem them from fall and punishment. This was also an attack on the slave owners to free their slaves. Many churches had fallen through because of pride and false teachers with false doctrine making them corrupt, this reflects how today's churches are. The rich and the teachers were among the people who were addressed, and this drew them to the movement to change their ways of life in a more religious way.
Lorenzo Dow, Revivalist Preacher, condemns the attacks on the Orthodox preachers and how they were treated in 1814. He condemned the pride among the rich who were fed by their instincts arguing that all men are equal. He says 'The Lord hath declared his intention and purpose to exalt the humble whilst he will pull down high looks.”[footnoteRef:3]This was after the rich people couldn’t worship the poor and the despised. The main theme here is pride which was among the rich and that sooner they would be left with nothing, he tries to defend the preachers by telling them that they believe by following their advice would lead to salvation. [3: Hollitz, Thinking Through the Past, 159.]
An appeal of Methodism discussed by a former slave, in 1856, talks about how far the nearest church was from their plantations, living alone in their homes. Since they were Episcopalians, they attended the Episcopal church, but the preaching was far from being understood with the little that was said. This made it harder to follow up on their religion and the teachings it rode with but soon when the Methodist church was brought, they got a better understanding of its doctrine and preaching. It mainly consternated the slaveholders, who didn’t pay close attention to understanding it.
The doctrine was spread all over the colonies creating awareness amongst themselves and bringing hope to the oppressed, slaves, and the poor making them more considered and free, he said that “As soon as it got among the slaves, it spread from plantation to plantation, until it reached ours, where they were but few who did not experience religion.” [footnoteRef:4]This shows that in a way, some slaves were attracted to the religions even though they didn’t know anything meaning that it helped bring some people to the church relieving them from their burdens. It gave them a new beginning in their lives and much hope in God. [4: Hollitz, Thinking Through the Past, 164. Hollitz, Thinking Through the Past, 165.]
Were women involved in the revival movement? And if yes, what were they doing while their husbands were on the move? In 1837 Harriet Martineau reveals how revivalism appealed to women and what part they played. She argues that women were supposed to be far from households for some time and her brain be turned by religiosity. Considering all other obligations such as Philosophy, science, and art, marriage was all that was left for women, religion. The rest was a pastime and are open at any time. She gives an example of how women live in New England saying that, “….a vast deal of time is spent in attending preaching and other religious meetings……” 5 The women were more willing to volunteer and spend time in churches, they had faith in what they were doing either by doing or harm according to the enlightenment of the mind. They observed religion and this needed to be implemented in all the colonies. They would engage in charities, proving religious education to their children and more religious roles.
Did the ministers require any background in education or was it a matter of inspiration and educating others? Peter Cartwright whom we discussed before the Methodist Discipline and an elder, of course, discusses whether ministers needed to be educated in theology. Much time would be wasted by waiting for the educated ministers to come, instead, they had to yield superior wisdom from God. Some protestant churches contended for an educated ministry accompanied by instrumental music and congregational. Instead, the Methodist church opposed these ideas with the help of their illiterate preachers. This saw religious indifferences between the two churches to an extent that the illiterate preachers were abused and were called ignorant babblers. They spoke to them in a language they wouldn’t understand, this wasn't meant to undervalue education but for them, it was a weak point. For him having an educated ministry didn’t guarantee any success of the denomination, he said, “ Other denominations have tried them, and they have proved a perfect failure……”[footnoteRef:5]Though the [5: Hollitz, Thinking Through the Past, 162.]
Methodist ministers felt inferior, they were better off than the educated ones. The intensity of the preaching in the Methodist church drew many people, this concluded that the education of ministers wasn’t a necessity. We later see the same church establishing institutions now and have helped many communities. People nowadays need more biblical instructions and teachings unlike in the early days and they should abide by education.
At this time most of the other denominations desired to have a civilization that would begin with the misters and then be passed over to them. They even had different religious ideas and the religion's role in society. Slavery was highly emphasized in the look of freedom of a man, pride among the rich was also addressed, and some codes of behavior guided them in their lives telling them what to do and what not to do. There were thousands of converts after the Great Awakening and the spread of revivalism in the colonies.
All forms of evil were condemned and were punishable by law. We see an emotional approach as religion grew rapidly. The Methodist church faces so much opposition from other dominations but it established strong leadership and stood strong in what it had to fight for. We see that more religious groups are formed that help in forming a base on various church denominations.