Summary Of The Second Awakening

I do feel that the second great awakening did fulfill the three features mentioned. Noll indicates that in a post revolution world “Interest in religion more generally also seemed on the decline” (Noll, 2003, p. 166). Faith had been waning in the post-revolutionary ear of America. Noll credits this to the concerns of birthing this young nation, attacks on old-world Christianity, as well as mentioning uncertainty surrounding the disestablishment of the church. He indicated that “Well under 10 percent of the population belonged formally to local congregations” (Noll, 2003, p. 166). Once the revival began, Christian faith again grew by large numbers. Noll mentions Methodist Francis Asbury who in 1771 came to the US with four ministers and 300 people.
173). He also indicated that between 1812 and 1850 grew from 200,000 to over 1,000,000 individuals. Clearly a move of God happened and in my opinion, it would not b e possible to see such a growth in the church in such short time without the presence of those features. Noll compared the differences between the first and second revival and indicated that the second awakening had more of a long-term impact that the first awakening. He indicates that “The great profusion of voluntary societies that sprang up in America in the first third of the nineteenth century can be traced directly to the energies of the Second Great Awakening” (Noll, 2003, p.169). I feel like a lot of the reason that the second Awakening was so impactful, was due to the fact that evangelists were more organized in their efforts to reach the American people. Much of this had to do with Lyman Beecher. Noll indicates of the organizations he helped create that “Such agencies gave the second Awakening a long-lived institutional influence” (Noll, 2003,