Second Great Awakening And Abolitionist Movement Essay

The scope of the investigation is limited to the Second Great Awakening and the American Abolitionist Movement from 1830-1839, with the exception of some foundational knowledge of the movement prior to 1830 to highlight the changes within the movement in the 1830s. The investigation included an exploration of various letters, lectures, and sermons by leading abolitionists from the time period and a variety of secondary sources analyzing the Second Great Awakening and the Abolitionist Movement from 1830-1839.
2.2 The Abolitionist Movement, pre-1830
The two overarching patterns of thought regarding antislavery prior to 1830 were colonization and gradualism. In the 1820s, few objected to the institution of slavery itself; rather, blacks themselves

were portrayed as the enduring problem. This belief served as the basis for colonization theory, a reform strategy that brought national attention to the antislavery cause in the 1820s and promoted the removal of blacks from America. The American Colonization Society (ACS) was established in 1817 as an organization devoted to “restoring the African to his rights” by returning him to Africa. The policy of gradualism relied on indirect, slow actions and dominated antislavery thought from the late 1700s until the 1820s. Gradualists avoided infringing on rights and feared collapse of social and political institutions; rather than taking direct action, they chose to await for the power of the slaveholder to be replaced by a more rational system.
2.3 The Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was, in a sense, a “metamorphosis of ideas”. The evangelical religious movement arose in the first half of the nineteenth century and was marked by a transition from a pious, God-centered religion to one of “humanitarianism and benevolence toward mankind”. In general, historians claim that awakenings are cultural transformations that ultimately cause societal institutions and goals to be redefined. To this end, the Second Great Awakening was a “vast mobilization of people” that challenged the old way of American life, reshaped the American identity, and permanently altered American political life.
In the 1820s, clergymen led frequent, zealous religious revivals stressing individual conversion and humanitarian reform. The churches became an integral part of American society in which political ideas such as individualism were developed. Church membership expanded during the Second Great Awakening: the number of evangelical clergymen expanded 175%, the Methodists reached 500,000 members by 1830, the number of established churches grew from 500 to over 2,500.
The revivals of the Second Great Awakening taught the concept of perfectionism, which did not tolerate sinful behavior. Individuals affected by the revivals desired to achieve personal, Christian holiness and strived to rid themselves and society from sin. To achieve perfection, absolute commitment and immediate action was required. Perfectionism led to the belief that the millennium, Christ’s thousand-year reign on Earth, was approaching; to prepare for its arrival, people advocated for a restructuring of institutions.
Historians argue that the most central theological transformation in the Second Great Awakening was the shift from Calvinism to Arminianism.

Calvinism taught the doctrine of determinism — that God holds absolute sovereignty over passive men; in contrast, Arminianism rejected this and presented a doctrine of free will that gave the individual personal responsibility for his or her salvation. People believed that sin was voluntary and could be rooted out of society, once acknowledged; as a result, people began to take personal responsibility for their actions and recognize their responsibility to improve society. Desire for personal redemption from sin arose from Arminianism, which taught that moral depravity was the choice of

man.
Personal responsibility led to a sense of purpose and participation in society. The ideological shift from inability to ability provoked a revival of individual morality and benevolence. In general, evangelicals aimed to reform the American image to highlight the piety and morality of individuals. Between 1815 and 1830, evangelicals actively organized benevolent associations and moral reform societies to “strengthen the Christian character of Americans”. Revivalism thus made religion a major factor in American society, and it subsequently contributed to a widespread desire for reform by teaching Americans that they had a God-ordained duty to reform society and convert the national culture to Christian principles: ordinary people were empowered and enabled to “trust their own powerful religious impulses”. The evangelicals foresaw a coming era of national reform, but in the 1820s, the source of immorality in society had not yet been defined. To pinpoint this source of immorality, a reevaluation of existing, accepted institutions was required.
2.4 The Abolitionist Movement, 1830-39
According to historians, abolitionism was a social movement. The 1830s marked a turning point for both American culture and American abolitionism. In December 1833, the first national organization dedicated to immediate emancipation was established. According to political science professor C. Bradley Thompson, “the American Anti-Slavery Society (AASS) marks the official beginning of an organized movement to abolish slavery in America”. James G. Birney, a prominent abolitionist in the 1830s, estimated there to be 225 antislavery societies in 1835, 527 in 1836, 1,006 in 1837, and 1,346 in 1838. Thus, the movement underwent significant expansion in the 1830s.
The abolitionists utilized a variety of tactics to reach a wide audience and develop awareness on the issue. Numerous local, state, and regional antislavery societies were established, and petitions, periodicals, and newspapers were published. Mass meetings and public lectures were essential in gaining support for the movement. The movement itself consisted of numerous organizations without an established center; rather, it functioned under a variety of leaders and viewpoints. Interestingly, most abolitionists did not support political action — rather, they aimed for wide social reform.
Perhaps the most notable development of the movement in the 1830s was the emergence of radical immediatism. The early movement emphasized gradual emancipation, but the evolving movement emphasized immediate social justice for all men — it necessitated abolition without “delay or preparation”. Amos A. Phelps claimed in 1834 that the only true remedy for slavery is complete and universal emancipation. Phelps argued that “the slaves be at once delivered from the control of arbitrary and irresponsible power”.
2.5 Effect of the Teachings of the Second Great Awakening on the Abolitionist Movement
Historians argue that the upsurge in the antislavery movement was a result of the revivals of the 1830s.

“The connection between the revivals of the Second Great Awakening and abolition was so strong that it would hardly be an overstatement to say that the revivals were responsible for antislavery becoming a radical national movement.” During the time period, evangelical religion underlay the culture of America to such an extent that the revivals of the 1830s resulted in “tangible” structures for social reform — the revivals touched many aspects of political and social life. The revivals implicitly created political obligations and led to a demand for an activist

mentality.
Perfectionism taught in the Second Great Awakening led to a desire to rid oneself and society of sin. To rid society of sin, long-established institutions and traditional beliefs were questioned, and revivalists found the source of moral collapse in the institution of slavery. Leading abolitionists of the 1830s were influenced by the immorality of slavery: William Lloyd Garrison believed that the law of God and the welfare of man required total abolition; William Watkins believed that liberty was the inalienable right of man given to him by his Creator; William Whipper believed that slavery was a prejudice that blocked individuals from the Truth.
Establishment of slavery as a moral evil created a greater sense of obligation within individuals to fix it. Perfectionism demanded immediate action; as a result, evangelical thinking adopted an antislavery ideology based on the idea of immediately eliminating the sin of slavery. Thus, immediatism developed from a desire for immediate repentance. Immediatism made no compromise with sin, unlike the previous ideology of gradualism which tolerated evil. To this end, the concept of perfectionism led to the development of immediatism.
The Second Great Awakening taught the people of the divinity of men which led to a sense of equality of all men. The abolitionists insisted that slavery caused the image of God to be brutalized and that the prejudice “debars men from heaven”. According to the abolitionists, “no man can deny another man the means of intellectual, social, and moral improvement”. The nature of man as taught in the Second Great Awakening forbids that he should be seized as property, as each man has “immortal worth”. Channing concluded, “everything else may be owned in the universe; but a moral, rational being cannot be property”.
Perhaps most importantly, the revival of individual morality during the Second Great Awakening caused a heightened sense of social reform, which influenced moral responsibility to eliminate sin from society. This moral responsibility was also developed in part by Arminianism — people recognized their ability to determine individual salvation and were motivated to fulfill Christian duty. Abolitionists pleaded for the “natural, moral, and political elevation of our whole people” and aimed to “destroy all national holds of evil; to root sin out of institutions; to hold up to view the gospel ideal of a righteous nation”. Participating in the movement became a way to serve God, and abolition henceforth satisfied reform impulses and religious yearnings.
In conclusion, the key difference between antislavery thought preceding 1830 and the ideology that emerged in the 1830s lay within the determination that slave owning was a sin and a moral evil. Leaders of abolitionism in the 1830s were influenced by revivals and religious obligation, as evangelicalism taught that man had the ability to recognize and prevent evil. Ultimately, the Second Great Awakening increased participation in abolitionism to the extent of influencing a reevaluation of institutions, the development of immediatism, and the desire to reform society.