Hollitz

Nathan Hatch compares the Second Great Awakening to the Jacks on I an era. He states that the men trying to persuade other people to join their religion was like trying to get people to follow them. That just like the beginning stages of the revolution, this was a time of power struggle for religious leaders. Hatch writes "These movements empowered ordinary people by taking their deepest spiritual impulses at face value rather than subjecting them to the scrutiny of orthodox doctrine...."( Hollitz page 152) Just like the revolution the Second Great Awakening brought individuals a sense of freedom to believe what they wanted to believe. In his last paragraph he writes one of the biggest influences I believe to be with this awakening. He writes "...they made salvation imminently accessible and immediately available." (Hollitz page 153) There definitely was a social bias towards the opinions on the growth of the religious groups. "The right of common people to shape their own faith and submit to leaders of their own choosing" (Hollitz page 154) The passage by Harriet Martineau explains to us readers how women at that time really had no great meaning or place in society and that religion gave them one. Also in the passage by a former slave the slave explains the appeal of Methodism. He explains how Methodism was more understandable and easier to listen to while as the religion he was practicing before he never came home understanding but half of the meeting. Both of these passages can show how these two groups which are not socially viewed as being higher up grow liking to the religious awakening because it gives them a sense of higher self-worth.

The primary sources go to prove that the Second Great Awakening was more brought on by the desire for another type of freedom then that of wanting more groups that can be controlled and create power. Like I explained previously a lot of the expansion was caused not necessarily by the leaders having good ‘talking skills’ but that the actual practices let the people develop