The Second Great Awakening

In this episode, we discuss America's Second Great Awakening-another moral and religious revival, this one driving America toward a great civil war.
The Second Great Awakening took off in 1820s as Americans moved into the frontier. It centered tent revivals meetings, which brought together local communities in multiday events that served as both religious meetings and local carnivals. The traveling preachers of the revival would preach in a similar style to the First Awakening, but carrying an explosive message-that it was the duty of everyone to make America perfectly just and moral so as to transform it into the Kingdom of God, thus brining about the Millennium.
This new revival caused Americans to throw themselves with fervor into significant projects for social reform, the most important of which were the abolition of slavery, temperance, and women’s suffrage. It created new leaders merging religion with causes like abolition such as the famous Beecher family, Charles Grandison Finney, and William Lloyd Garrison. As women in particular threw themselves into the revival, it also created a great generation of new women leaders like Susan B. Anthony and Lucretia Mott.
Second Awakening activists believed that transforming America was a moral urgency worth any sacrifice. This attitude created an army of new abolitionists willing to do anything to end to the scourge of slavery like John Brown, if necessary even violence or war.
The Second Great Awakening was also more than just a Christian religious revival. It was another national moral revival, one that would see the creation of other religious movements like the LDS Church, other philosophical movements like Transcendentalism, and found among the most important social reform movements in American history.
The fervor of the Second Great Awakening burned out in the trauma of the war and Reconstruction, leading America into the pragmatic era of the Gilded Age. But around the turn of the century the same spirit would come back yet again as America entered yet another era of revival and moral reform called the Progressive Era.
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[@b_tang]

This channel is a gift.

[@mashoer9258]

Very good

[@purpledurple621]

Great video as always. Before the end of the video, I was thinking all these movements are linked in some way to the progressive movements of the early 20th century. In some ways I see connections between wokeness and the modern progressive movement and the second great awakening especially about the issues of race. My question is what was the south doing during this awakening

[@emperoremperor1486]

To my knowledge intensifying resistance against abolitionism(because of economic reasons as its been done since Washington himself) and building its unique type of racism that still scars the US to this day.
The racism born from trying not just to proclaim how great we are like Victorian and later white man's burden did but as a direct try at justifying the horrors of slavery.

[@FrankDiStefano]

The disconnect between what preachers were saying and maintaining slavery was a huge problem in the south. This is why you started to see the embrace of a biblical defense of slavery. People started saying slavery was talked about in the bible and so God obviously wanted it. Before the awakening and abolition movement, you mostly heard defenses of slavery that it was obviously a terrible thing but necessary for certain reasons. Now you started hearing a lot of people say it was actually good and biblical. Making the conflict more unresolveable through negotiation.

[@maxbouratoglou6718]

I have been anxiously awaiting this episode. what a great surprise waking up. i have been doing a lot of research into the Baptist church, specifically the Black Baptist church, as a means of organizing populists to the Farmers/Colored Farmers Alliance, and then ultimately the People's party. the role of the church and religion have play integral roles in bringing about radical political change and political realignments, and its deemphasis in American culture (in my opinion) has stagnated the possibilities of realignments in our modern age.

[@leodigiosia9418]

lov u

[@MrL1619]

This video is my favorite. I learn so much. Thank you

[@HistoryNerd808]

Just recently found this channel and got caught up on the videos on here. Great job(despite some nitpicky things from me being a history nerd lol.) Regarding the future, I wonder if a guy like Sen. Tim Scott(R-SC) might be able to be the future realigning figure that you talk about in some of your videos. He's flying very under the radar but he is very laser-focused in his messaging on things like poverty and creating opportunities for the under-advantaged, through things like school choice. That dovetails very nicely into the need to deal with the crisis of the American Dream that you point out a lot.

[@TraftonCrandall]

This is a Great Video, Frank, and I'm so glad that you are discussing the roles that the Great Awakenings play in igniting the forces of Social Change in America. Clearly we are in the midst of another Great Awakening here in the United States, and it cannot come any sooner, because we stand inches away from planetary destruction. Keep Making these videos, going on podcasts, and Spreading the Word. I'm happy to be your Hype Man!

[@danaperko573]

Frank: not to take anything away from your book, but have you read George Friedman's "The Storm before the Calm"? Friedman lays out a lot of the same history that you do. Nice parallels. Also, have you looked at any of Peter Zeihan's youtube videos? In most of his videos he uses a 2x2 matrix where he tracks the shifting coalitions of both the Democrat and Republic parties.

[@OJRedd]

Hey Frank. Just about finished up with the book and I have a question. The debate over new deal liberalism is a dead topic as you laid out so brilliantly in your book. But how do I factor in the curve ball of the democrats massive push for major infrastructure. The battle that we saw play out really looked like the debate was still happening.

[@FrankDiStefano]

I think the fact this debate failed to gain traction with ordinary Americans is exactly the point I'm getting at. Both parties have out of date toolkits. Faced with new problems, they can only reach for the same tools they already know. To me, it's therefore evidence of the problem. (Not to say building new infrastructure in some capacity can't and won't be part of whatever comes next, but that it will and should be different and a new approach than just increased funding the same list of priorities and approaches of the twentieth century.)

[@emperoremperor1486]

"Wilderness"
I hope you aren't trying to avoid that legacy.