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Second Great Awakening Essay

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Throughout history, those who practice any form of religious worship has been a small percentage of the population Today, many individuals take part in many different religious beliefs but fail to know how it originates. The Great Awakening revived a lot of religious ideas, but it was essentially the Second Great Awakening that really produced not only religious enthusiasm but also the reformation movement in the country.
The Second Great Awakening inspired individuals to redefine their pious worships by using religion to find a behavioral epiphany. As mentioned in Give Me Liberty, “Finney warned of hell in vivid language while offering the promise of salvation to converts who abandoned their sinful ways” (Foner 357). Individuals were deliberately …show more content…

In Give Me Liberty, Foner states that pious leaders “Seized the opportunities offered by the market revolution to spread their message” (360). To showcase their cause to other individuals, leaders would deliberately “resonate…the spread of market values” (360) with spiritual belief. Therefore, with the help of the market revolution and exertion of religious ideals the rate of reformation grew exponentially. Spiritual leaders would impose strict beliefs onto their followers which ultimately results in innovations and endless productivity. In contrast; however, “evangelical preachers can hardly be described as cheerleaders for a market society” (360). Though they benefited immensely from the Market Revolution, leaders believed this era to be consisted of “selfishness– an extreme form of individualism encouraged by the scramble for wealth” (360). The revivalists critiqued those who participated in the market revolution as materialistic individuals who cared only for monetary value. Despite using its innovations for their own gain, spiritual leaders did not share the same values as corporate leaders and higher ranking business officials. The revival of religion along with the growing popularity of the market society had inspired change in America despite the different perspective they each acquired. Hence,

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