Paths To Salvation And The Age Of Reform Essay, Research Paper

After the War of 1812 a feeling of nationalism swept over the country. Nationalism is the spirit of nation-consciousness or national oneness. In other words, it is a feeling of unity throughout the country, usually associated with a feeling of national superiority. Nationalism lasted for a short time however people noticed their complacency growing throughout the newly formed nation.

This is the story of a gathering of people to Cane Ridge, Kentucky and their revival toward a strong religious nation.

In the summer of 1801, 18 Presbyterian ministers, plus several Baptists and Methodists, gathered at a Presbyterian meeting house in Bourbon County for one of the largest “camp meeting” revivals ever seen up to that time. Claims that up to twenty five thousand of people camped out but in all actuality a more reliable figure may be near one thousand gathered to hear the preachers’ message of unity among denominations and a return to biblical basics. Backgrounds of those who attended weren’t in concern. Many of the sermons had social and political messages, too, inspiring some revivalgoers to return home and emancipate their slaves.

The Cane Ridge revival is credited as “the impetus” for the founding of the Christian Church and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) denominations and with helping to attract the Shakers to Kentucky.

Regardless of the number of people who attended, one thing is for certain, scores of people packed tightly together during the rainstorms to participate. So many that moving about was difficult. Some preachers stood on logs others on tree stumps to convey their stories. People who were out of hearing range testified amongst themselves. Strange was their religious worship. They hollered, danced, shouted as if celebrating gala party. The din even described like the sound of Niagara Falls. The revivals lasted throughout the night and into the day and went on for days.

The Reverend William Burke lays claim that he attracted ten thousand people before him one Sunday. This was hardly possible when only 750 tokens to attend a communion were handed out. Burke did have a positive effect on people. Some fell on the ground and others shouted “Amen’s” and “Praise the Lord”. The effect was not unfavorable at all. One sinner fell of his horse and lay unconscious for 30 hours. When awakened he had no recollection of what happened. Still others even freed their slaves.

Most stories are exaggerated however James Finely’s story is quite remarkable. It’s told that this man’s background was that of a sinner. Fighting and drinking was at his forefront. Out of curiosity Finely witnessed the strange goings on. He decided early on that he would not moved. Not long afterward however a power came over him that caused him to act as strange as anyone else attending.

Some believe this craziness was the Holy Spirit releasing them to be free. The effect on one group of people was that they were caused to jump and shake violently and spastically. So much so, those hairpins flew! Others fell on the floor as if lifeless. Rachel Martin lost consciousness for nine days. In conclusion, most people of the day accepted this type of behavior during worship.

The revivals also became a meeting ground for all types of people. Not only the God-fearing were attracted but also single women and men who allowed nature to take its course. Once the newness wore off and the temptations discouraged what was left were a devoted group of worshippers.

Revivalism spread throughout the Ohio valley and points east between 1800 and 1804. Waxhaws, South Carolina saw three thousand when twenty preachers stood before them while praising God upward toward the south. Remains of this revival are evident today in this area and south.

By 1809, issues of the doctrine were in dispute and the vulnerable Presbyterians had split twice. The product was the Presbyterians of New England and the Mid-Atlantic States. The second group derived from seventeenth-century Puritanism, perceived law differently. Topography is also partially to blame for the split.

Whatever the case, the revivals were a blessing for the country. It attracted new people who otherwise would never have saved without it.

Let me conclude by making the following remarks.

The frontiersmen were attracted to these camps once they realized their complacency growing throughout the newly formed nation. They were loosing the very morals in which this country was founded. In support of Weisberger’s view, the revivals must have been good. The revivals were a way to draw souls to Christ and also build a solid church. The number of Methodist grew from 15,000 in 1785 to 850,000 by 1840. European travelers were also drawn to theses revivals because of new doctrine and ideas which is in contrast of the Calvinistic doctrine of election which stated that God had chosen only a small part of mankind to be saved and had determined beforehand who these “saints” would be. Those elected were “predestined” to go to heaven. All others were just as certainly doomed and no effort of will or agony of repentance could change the awful decree.

One young lady from Lowell visited the Shakers. There she found peace and happiness where she was free from anxiety. Where people functioned in a state of brotherly love and kindness. Of course anyone that came from the Lowell mills would have high regard for this place also in comparison to their past.

Communitarian life does exist in today’s society. Most recognized in recent days is the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas. Their way of life was to keep promoting a single strength of God following worshippers. In so doing they retained a high sense of discipline among its members by not allowing its members to leave the compound. The practices, which were claimed to be biblical, are controversial. Other communitarian sects or cults as I prefer to name them, are Ruby Ridge and yet another is the Montana Freemen. Writing about these would lead to a whole other discussion. Most cults are not successful for long. They depend on force or brainwashing. However, other communities do exist in peace and the Omish is one such group.

Sermons of the second great awakening were intended to create the ideal community or nation. They would be peaceful, most of the times, but always promote a larger and stronger single church of God fearing individuals and to save their souls.

I feel that Lucretia Mott was a very outspoken Quaker minister. Her childhood home and residents of Nantucket Island suffered hunger from blockades, which were inflicted during the Revolutionary War by both the British and the Americans because the islanders’ remained neutral. She strongly felt that both war and slavery was wrong. Out of her strong beliefs came great contribution to the antislavery and women’s rights movement.

After hard work and devotion, her sacrifice paid off. In 1833, Lucretia and James Mott were found pleasing that the constitution gave its assurance to work against slavery. She was also involved in The Philadelphia Female Anti-Slavery Society which assisted by boycotting goods that were grown by slaves. She expounded on this by using free produce religiously. She encouraged others to do the same. Her idea was to improving the condition of the African race. A small organization lobbied diligently to persuade Congress to ban slavery.

The problem was that time was not on her side. As the years went by, slavery in the south became stronger after the invention of Elli Whitney’s cotton gin. Businessmen in the north felt that antislavery was dangerous. The antislavery movement intruded upon business up and down the coast. Because of the potato famine many Irish immigrants were already intruding on the free jobs in the north. The free black labors created a strong competition for jobs.

Lucretia even introduced a resolution at the 1837 Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women, where she convinced people to do the same. She did this through her friends’, William Lloyd Garrison, and editorials in his paper The Liberator.

Her views sparked mobs that took sides. The editor, William Lloyd Garrison, was even killed due to his views and instigation against slavery. This and other misfortunes made them stronger yet. Instead of being intimidated and relinquish their views, they vowed to “expand, not contract their social relations with their colored friends.”

Because of the problems surrounding her ideas, Lucretia ran into much resistance. Even that as to where her meetings would be held. She regarded Mayor Roach’s suggestions as disrespectful. Not only white women, but all women. This must have been especially demeaning to black women of the time.

There were many debates over personal points of expressing during the meetings. Lucretia insisted on freedom of expression, “the right we cannot deny and ought to respect though the opinion may be such as we disapprove.”

Lucretia was known to travel extensively in order to convey her message of freedom. She and James Mott traveled to England where the World’s Anti-Slavery Convention was held. There, Lucretia was denied a seat on the convention floor. She did however, handle herself in a very dignified way since the British wasn’t adapting well to the thought that women could serve as delegates. This had a profound and permanent impact. She changed the rules of political debate when she and Elizabeth Stanton called for The Seneca. Falls Convention of 1848 due to this. I find it incredible that until 1979, males dominated Parliament in Britain.

She assisted the underground railroad by peacefully moving escaped slaved from safe house to safe house throughout the 1840’s. But the U.S. Government intervened by passing the Fugitive Slave Law in 1851. The purpose was to assist by some forceful actions to recapture escaped slaves. Some members of the antislavery movement began to believe that force was necessary to protect the fleeing slaves. The connection between antislavery and nonresistance was broken when a slave named William Parker who must have been an escaped slave in the town of Christiana, organized a mutual-protection group against slave hunters. Violence erupted when a slave master came to Christiana looking for four escaped slaves. An armed conflict arose, and the slave owner was killed and his son wounded. End the end William was able to flee to Canada and a large number of blacks were taken prisoner and charged with treason. Three white farmers were also arrested for refusing to obey the marshal’s order to help capture the slaves.

I believe the Fugitive Slave Law done more harms than good. It was responsible for the scattering of black slaves over the country. Some blacks never again saw their families.

Another famous person responsible for helping the escaped slaves was John Brown. John was filled with heavy anti-slavery sentiment. This, combined with personal observations of the maltreatment of blacks and the influence of Calvinism, John initiated his crusade to abolish slavery. In 1849, John relocated to North Elba, Kansas. He planned to aid the free blacks adjust to the hardships of farming in the Adirondacks. John soon realized the impossibility of his task and abandoned this idea to follow the abolitionist movement in Kansas where five of his sons were already stationed. After such bloody encounters as Pottawamie Creek in Kansas, John began to amass arms and make battle plans in earnest for a full-fledged invasion of the South. John and his group raided Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, but once John Brown and his followers had captured the arsenal, they found themselves trapped. They were then captured and turned over to state authorities. John Brown was found guilty and sentenced to death. John Brown was hung in Charleston on Dec.2, 1859.

As I see it, there were many people who molded this Country to be what it is today. A very ethnicity diverse society that I will argue is like a bowl of stew. Everyone depends on one another, yet when dissected, holds firm to its ancestral roots. But if you were to transplant any group of people and placed them back into the origin of their national descent, they would clearly stand out as “Not From There.”