By: Ishan Porwal
The Infant Christian
The Infant Christian is a children's story written by Mrs. C. V. R. Hale of New York. The story exemplifies the Second Great Awakening as children are encouraged to become Christians at a young ago. One interesting part reads...
"If you will turn away from sin
In childhood's early day,
The Lord will make you pure within,
And take your guilt away."
Significance in American History
This wave of change shifted American religion completely. Around the beginning of the spiritual resurgence, the most populous denominations (recognized autonomous branches of the Christian Church) were Congregationalists (the 18th-century descendants of Puritan churches), Anglicans (known after the Revolution as Episcopalians), and Quakers. However by 1800, Evangelical Methodists and Baptists were becoming more prevalent. The many, different revivals that occurred over the decades of the Second Great Awakening, helped make the United States a much more Protestant country than before. New religious groups were also formed by the revivals. These groups, such as the Mormons, didn’t want to live by already established faiths and therefore created their own doctrines.
The Second Great Awakening influenced an era of antebellum social reform and promoted deliverance (being free) from sins.