The Second Great Awakening

From a leading historian, a sweeping account of the Second Great Awakening, one of the most significant eras of religious change in American history

The Second Great Awakening, spanning from roughly 1790 to 1840, was the greatest period of Protestant growth in U.S. history. Marked by spectacular revivals, it dramatically changed the denominational landscape, elevating Baptists and Methodists from minor sects to America’s leading denominations. It also witnessed a mass conversion of African Americans to Christianity, spurred advancements in education and benevolent societies, fostered the burgeoning print trade, and helped to organize the frontier. Moreover, this period saw significant schisms within Protestant denominations over the issue of slavery.

In this first-ever comprehensive history of the Second Great Awakening, celebrated historian Thomas S. Kidd tells the dramatic story of this epochal period. Ranging from the United States to still-monarchical Canada and the British Caribbean, Kidd

• challenges the conventional view that the Second Great Awakening was a monolithic wave of democratization and
• portrays a period riddled with divisions, both regional and doctrinal, that prefigured the fissures leading to the Civil War.

A follow-up to Kidd’s influential book The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Religion in Colonial America, this meticulously researched account provides invaluable insights into this pivotal period in American religious history.