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While the Second Great Awakening began in the late eighteenth century, it wasn’t until the nineteenth century that the movement gained traction in the US as a whole. This Protestant Christian movement came from a Postmillennial concept at the beginning of the 19th century that the eminent return of Christ meant there was a need to prepare the world for his return. The momentum of the Second Great Awakening. Through the Second Great Awakening came new religious movements. This stemmed especially out of the Reformed tradition that began to take shape. Revival Preachers such as Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell independently created a reformed movement that merged together in the 1830’s. Through the popularity of the Second Great Awakening, social changes within the midst of the private and religious lives of women change. While many historians and religious scholars write on the men of the movement, Stone and Alexander just to name a few, women are often removed from the conversation. The role women played in the development of the Reform Tradition and other social movements changed. Women took roles as leaders and, in some instances, Preacher. The creation of the Women’s Christian Temperance movement stems from these overarching social and religious changes. The conversation involves scholars from multiple areas. Through this historiography the conversation will encompass scholars from both the historical and religious fields.
One discussion noted between the various authors is the changing scope of the Private and Public Sphere. With the large number of revivals and reinvigoration of evangelism within the social structure of society, the public role of women changed. For scholars, the largest debate stems from this changing societal structure. As religion became a cornerstone in the lives of these women, some scholars see the transition of leadership roles in bible reading and prayer in the home helping women emerge as leaders in the religious public sphere. Women helped to lead the creation of denominations. According to Loretta Young, the wife of Alexander Campbell, Selina, was the backbone of the Christian Church reform movement. Other scholars find that the revival and reform movement led to a strengthening of the separation between private and public spheres. Some scholars, such as David Harrell, attribute this parting to Selina Campbell as well.
The Authors’ debates are developing through careful research. The role of the Second Great Awakening and emerging female roles on the creation of the Women’s Christian Temperance movement, the role that women preachers played on society are threads that emerge as I continue to read and negotiate my way through the texts.