Curated OER
Religious Communities: 19TH CENTURY HARMONISTS
Students examine the Second Great Awakening and the religious revivals that swept through the United States during the early decades of the nineteenth century. They compare various communities to the Harmonists of Old Economy.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: John Mayfield, Triumph of Nationalism: America, 1815 1850
An essay in which historian John Mayfield claims Americans' evangelical passion is the "religious equivalent of nationalism."
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: 19th Century: African American Christianity, Pt. I: To the Civil War
Essay tracks the various religions associated with the African-Americans since their introduction to the New World. Different interpretations from historians are offered for discussion of whether Christianity was helpful to the slaves.
Other
The Gospel Truth: Biography of Charles Grandison Finney
This detailed biography about Charles Finney was written by a professor in Oberlin College's theological seminary. Here, read about Finney's childhood, involvement at Oberlin, and his influential views on Christianity.
OpenStax
Open Stax: An Awakening of Religion and Individualism
This section of a chapter on "Antebellum Idealism and Reform Impulses" explains the connection between Evangelical Protestantism and the Second Great Awakening and describes the message of the transcendentalists.
PBS
Pbs: God in America: The Black Church
A good look at the role of the church and religion in the history of African Americans. Find out the church's importance in the abolition movement and the civil rights movement.
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: The Second Great Awakening
This university site offers a detailed summary the U.S. religious revival called the Second Great Awakening. Looks at various religious movements in the early United States.
Library of Congress
Loc: Religion and the New Republic: Emergence of the African American Church
This government site from the Library of Congress summarizes the founding of the African Methodist church in the early U.S. Topic is included in larger section, so readers must scroll down part way to the heading "The Emergence of the...
Digital History
Digital History: Simple Truth in the Open Air
A very brief description of perhaps the first religious revival, a symbol of the Second Great Awakening, in Kentucky in 1801.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: New Roles for White Women
A look at the changes in the role of white, middle-class women as a result of the Second Great Awakening, among other social forces.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Religious Transformation and the Second Great Awakening
The first half of the 19th century saw the emergence of many social and religious movements. Read about the Second Great Awakening and how it related to and changed the practice of and participation in religious life. See also how it...
Black Past
Black Past: First Baptist Church, Richmond, Virginia
The encyclopedia entry about the First Baptist Church of Richmond, Virginia,tells about the opportunities for both black slaves and freemen in this integrated church in the Antebellum South.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Ap Us History Period 4: 1800 1848
This Khan Academy resource provides video lessons and detailed notes for the AP U.S. History Exam. The years 1800-1848 are covered.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1800 1848: Quiz 3
A quick comprehension check over reform movements in the US during the mid 1800s.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1800 1848: Women's Rights and the Seneca Falls Convent
The first women's rights movement advocated equal rights for white women by leveraging abolitionist and Second Great Awakening sentiment.
Digital History
Digital History: Religion in the Early Republic: Introduction
A brief review of the role of religion in the lives of American founding fathers, and a hint of the changes to come in the 19th century.
Digital History
Digital History:religious Ferment
The Second Great Awakening brought about the growth of Protestant denominations, and some new religions and sects.
Tom Richey
Slide Share: The Commerical North
This slideshow shows the factors that caused Northern states to be industrial. These factors include the Enlightenment and the Second Great Awakening.