by Graydyl

Created on: May 19, 2010

            Abolitionism, temperance, and the cult of domesticity were all present in the North before the peak of the Second Great Awakening. Prior to the peak, Abolitionism and Temperance made little gain and remained relatively dormant since they lacked solid justification for their causes. The cult of domesticity was well established from 1790-1840 and it was so firm because women lacked rationale for leaving their sphere. They simply had no justification for leaving the home. The themes and events of the Second Great Awakening, especially in the 1820s, provided these groups with their needed pretext. First, religious groups spawn a great deal of interest in remaking society into more humane forms. As a result, both Temperance and Abolitionism established several organizations voicing their causes. Second, the spread of these revivals and reform movements provided women with unprecedented opportunities for public activity which partially challenged the ‘cult of domesticity’. However, the Second Great Awakening often reinforced the ‘cult of domesticity’ since what women supported often related to their sphere. Therefore, women never really broke out of their sphere. The idea was to let women attend to anything that involve their domestic sphere such as liquor and leave politics and finance to men.

            The religious revivals of the Second Great Awakening contributed to the intense morals of the Temperance Movement. The revivals declared a common message—an emphasis on personal salvation, an emotional response to God’s grace, and an individualistic faith. Temperance was relatively dormant until the emergence of the revivals. Almost all temperance reformers of the 1820s and 1830s had initially been inspired by revivals. For example, the Transcendentalist had their origins in Concord, Massachusetts where revivalist Lyman Beecher voice his outcry against alcohol. That alone sparked the shift from a trend of moderation to absolute prohibition of alcohol. Renowned for promoting prohibition, the American Temperance Society, served as the first national temperance organization. It was strongly supported by Protestants, but just as strongly opposed by the new waves of Catholic immigrants. Furthermore, the works of Evangelist Charles G. Finney through his ‘Social Gospel’, which offered salvation to all,

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