Second Great Awakening

==Political implications==

Revivals and perfectionist hopes of improving individuals and society continued to increase from 1840 to 1865 across all major denominations, especially in urban areas. Evangelists often directly addressed issues such as slavery, greed, and poverty, laying the groundwork for later reform movements.<ref name="Timothy">Timothy L. Smith, ''Revivalism and Social Reform: American Protestantism on the Eve of the Civil War'' (1957).</ref> The influence of the Awakening continued in the form of more secular movements.<ref>Barbara Leslie Epstein, The Politics of Domesticity. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 1981.</ref> In the midst of shifts in theology and [[church polity]], American Christians began progressive movements to reform society during this period. Known commonly as [[Reform movement#United States: 1840s–1930s|antebellum reform]], this phenomenon included reforms against the [[temperance movement in the United States|consumption of alcohol]], for [[women's rights]] and [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolition of slavery]], and a multitude of other issues faced by society.<ref>Alice Felt Tyler, ''Freedom's Ferment: Phases of American Social History from the Colonial Period to the Outbreak of the Civil War'' (1944).</ref>

The religious enthusiasm of the Second Great Awakening was echoed by the new political enthusiasm of the [[Second Party System]].<ref>Stephen Meardon, "From Religious Revivals to Tariff Rancor: Preaching Free Trade and Protection during the Second American Party System," ''History of Political Economy,'' Winter 2008 Supplement, Vol. 40, p. 265-298</ref> More active participation in politics by more segments of the population brought religious and moral issues into the political sphere. The spirit of evangelical humanitarian reforms was carried on in the antebellum Whig party.<ref>Daniel Walker Howe, "The Evangelical Movement and Political Culture in the North During the Second Party System", The Journal of American History 77, no. 4 (March 1991), p. 1218 and 1237.</ref>

Historians stress the common understanding among participants of reform as being a part of God's plan. As a result, local churches saw their roles in society in purifying the world through the individuals to whom they could bring salvation, and through changes in the law and the creation of institutions. Interest in transforming the world was applied to mainstream political action, as temperance activists, antislavery advocates, and proponents of other variations of reform sought to implement their beliefs into national politics. While Protestant religion had previously played an important role on the American political scene, the Second Great Awakening strengthened the role it would play.<ref name="Timothy" />