5. Consequences

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this module, we focus on the long-term consequences of the Second Great Awakening. The main consequence of the revival was that many Americans began to imagine their nation as a Protestant Christian nation. In turn, the message of the revival re-enforced ideas of not only individualism but also American exceptionalism. The Awakening also had long lasting impacts on American literature, which focused heavily in the years after the revival on the idea of individualism.

Course

In this course, Professor Susan Curtis (Purdue University) explains the causes of the Second Great Awakening. We start by looking at the origins of the movement in the United States and then turn to examine its key characteristics. We then turn to look at how the Second Great Awakening was connected to another change occurring in society at the time - the Market Revolution. After this, we finish by looking at the consequences of the movement and with some concluding remarks.

Lecturer

Susan Curtis in Emeritus Professor of History and American Studies at Purdue University. She specialises in the History of American culture, religion, and race relations; and is the author of four books - A Consuming Faith:  The Social Gospel and Modern American Culture (1991): Dancing to a Black Man's Tune:  A Life of Scott Joplin (1994); The First Black Actors on the Great White Way (1998); and Colored Memories:  A Biographer's Quest for the Elusive Lester A. Walton (2008).