ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos

U.S. History 1877-Present 1: The Second Great Awakening 213 Views


Share It!


Description:

Shmoop had a second great awakening this morning...we still hit snooze, though. Third time's the charm, right?

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

Sequels can be tough...

00:05

to pull off. At least well. [image of a dinosaur movie playing on the tv screen]

00:07

Sometimes they stray too far from the...

00:09

original, losing the unique spice that...

00:11

made the first one sizzle. [frying bacon in a pan]

00:13

Star Wars: Attacks of the Clones, really?

00:15

Sometimes, they're so much like the original... [man angrily walking out of a movie theater]

00:17

that they make us get, you know,

00:19

major deja vu.

00:20

We're looking at you, Hangover 2. [image of a poster from the movie Hangover 2]

00:22

But some sequels, get it just right.

00:25

Thank you, Dark Knight and every...

00:27

iteration of Toy Story. [ Batman standing in front of a building on fire]

00:28

Why'd we just go on a rant about sequels?

00:30

Because we're about to talk about one of the greatest...

00:33

sequels in American history: the Second Great Awakening. [a man happy and excited with his hands up]

00:36

It had everything the first Great Awakening...

00:38

had like outdoor camp meetings, [a boy trying to take a nap]

00:41

talk of sin and damnation,

00:43

passionate preachers,

00:45

empowerment for the regular, non-elite folks, [ a man riding a motor bike through a vegetable market]

00:47

emphasis on the individual's...

00:49

relationship with God.

00:51

Like any good sequel, it had enough new twists to make... [people screaming on a roller coaster ride]

00:54

the audience go wild.

00:56

There were fresh ideas like free will... [ a man dancing on his head]

00:58

can maybe help you avoid...

01:00

hell; Good things can actually...

01:02

happen; and women and African-Americans... [ image of gifts wrapped in colorful paper]

01:05

actually have a place in religious life.

01:07

Who knew?

01:08

Not only were major changes happening in established churches, [picture of a church]

01:11

but new churches were also popping up all over the place.

01:14

Upstate New York even got the nickname, the

01:18

because of all the revivalist action it was gettin'.

01:20

The burned-over district, [a district burnt over]

01:22

not hard to see why they don't use that on their upstate tourist ads.

01:26

Well, church membership soared, and...

01:28

new denominations were popping up like... [people raising their hands towards the sky]

01:30

tiny plastic moles wearing unusual...

01:32

yellow hats.

01:34

Many people believed they were living....

01:36

in a spiritual awakening, a comic... [man with his hands up facing the sun]

01:38

event signaling the final days of history.

01:41

Other believed religious zealotry... [a city full of smoke]

01:43

was running amok. Across the country...

01:45

wandering preachers,

01:46

most without official training, [ image of 3 men floating over a map]

01:48

built followings among the common people,

01:51

ready to go with a brand of religion [a stage with disco lights]

01:53

with more pizzazz.

01:54

Rather than adding confetti cannons,

01:56

these new evangelists preached.. [a man dancing]

01:58

that God's grace was free...

02:00

and available to all.

02:02

Salvation was non-predetermined, [image of a man and an angel]

02:04

or set aside for a tiny few,

02:06

as the Calvinists had believed for years.

02:08

Praying hard and asking for forgiveness was enough to... [a girl praying with her fingers interlocked]

02:10

convinced God to give mercy to anyone who asked.

02:12

The message that every individual was...

02:14

valuable and equal in the eyes of God... [colorful lights beaming through a window]

02:16

sounded especially great to slaves...

02:18

and free blacks.

02:19

Many slaves converted to the new evangelical...

02:22

denominations during the Second Great Awakening. [small kids dancing]

02:24

They were often more welcome there than...

02:26

the traditional churches. [man in front of a stage waving]

02:28

Still, slave owners didn't want slaves...

02:30

to organize their own church services...

02:32

for fear that it would lead to rebellion.

02:34

So sometimes slave owners tried to put the... [ 2 men dressed in suit and a hat talking to each other]

02:36

kibosh on their slaves' newfound religious enthusiasm.

02:39

Women were also excited by these... [ a watermelon exploding into pieces]

02:41

new churches and some of them even ended up...

02:43

leading them.

02:44

The message is that the Second Great Awakening suddenly made... [a woman praying in a church]

02:47

equality between men and women look...

02:49

like an actual possibility. [man and woman relaxing at a beach]

02:51

Score 1 for girl power...finally.

02:53

Of course, it wasn't all sunshine and lollipops.

02:55

New converts experienced some seriously... [man holding a base ball bat in his hand]

02:58

harsh and sometime violent discrimination.

03:00

Some people are just no good with change.

Up Next

Why Does the Constitution Still Work for Us?
5721 Views

Ever heard of a "living document"? They eat and breathe just like the rest of us! They even walk around on their own two legs. Okay, fine—maybe t...

Related Videos

The Puritans and the Division of Church and State
1280 Views

If the Puritans had gotten their way, religion would play a much larger role in lawmaking these days. Want to know more? Watch the video for all th...

Shays' Rebellion
6346 Views

What happened between the creation of the Articles of Confederation and the ratification of the current U.S. Constitution? This video analyzes the...

There's More Than One Way to Crack a Modernist Egg
539 Views

The Modernists thought the world had a lot of problems, and they were intent on fixing them—or at least talking about fixing them. Unfortunately,...

Federalism
2532 Views

This video explains Federalism and the quest for a fair balance between state and national power. It covers the progression and compromises of Fede...