preview

The Religious Beliefs Of The Second Great Awakening

Decent Essays

The reform movements, such as those concerning women’s rights, education, temperance, abolition, and humane prisons/ asylums occurred because they were either integrated with the ideals of the Declaration of Independence or Christianity. The Second Great Awakening was a religious revival movement that happened in the beginning of the nineteenth century that emphasized faith and called for liberty and equality. Just like the first great awakening, the time period expressed the idea that people could be saved through revivals. It brought forward new Christians and branched out many new denominations.The Second Great Awakening stimulated the establishment of many reform movements designed to get rid of all the evils of society and to resolve social problems before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Women’s rights began due to the fact that the only big role a woman had was in the household. Their responsibility was to raise their children and to education them in religious matters. Because of such responsibilities women began arguing that they themselves had to be educated in order to educate their children. The fact that women only had a few rights went against religious beliefs of equality. According to the Bible, a man and woman are both equal in the eyes of God. The man is commanded to be the head of the household and the wife should be submissive to that authority. However, that does not mean the woman is any less important than a man, it just means the man and woman play different roles. In 1848, the Seneca Falls Convention took place, led by Elizabeth Stanton and Lucretia Mott. At the Convention, women discussed religious and moral issues, as well as the role of women in society. These women insisted that they were held to the same standard as men and that they should be granted the same rights and privileges. Regardless of practicing Christianity, women were viewed in society as little more than slaves, with not much of a voice and with only slightly more rights. At the Convention they founded the Declaration of Sentiments, adding to the words of the Declaration of Independence saying “all men and women are created equal.” They put forth the ideas of allowing women to vote, to control their property

Get Access