ShmoopTube

00:03

Sequels can be tough...

00:05

to pull off. At least well. [image of a dinosaur movie playing on the tv screen]

00:07

Sometimes they stray too far from the...

00:09

original, losing the unique spice that...

00:11

made the first one sizzle. [frying bacon in a pan]

00:13

Star Wars: Attacks of the Clones, really?

00:15

Sometimes, they're so much like the original... [man angrily walking out of a movie theater]

00:17

that they make us get, you know,

00:19

major deja vu.

00:20

We're looking at you, Hangover 2. [image of a poster from the movie Hangover 2]

00:22

But some sequels, get it just right.

00:25

Thank you, Dark Knight and every...

00:27

iteration of Toy Story. [ Batman standing in front of a building on fire]

00:28

Why'd we just go on a rant about sequels?

00:30

Because we're about to talk about one of the greatest...

00:33

sequels in American history: the Second Great Awakening. [a man happy and excited with his hands up]

00:36

It had everything the first Great Awakening...

00:38

had like outdoor camp meetings, [a boy trying to take a nap]

00:41

talk of sin and damnation,

00:43

passionate preachers,

00:45

empowerment for the regular, non-elite folks, [ a man riding a motor bike through a vegetable market]

00:47

emphasis on the individual's...

00:49

relationship with God.

00:51

Like any good sequel, it had enough new twists to make... [people screaming on a roller coaster ride]

00:54

the audience go wild.

00:56

There were fresh ideas like free will... [ a man dancing on his head]

00:58

can maybe help you avoid...

01:00

hell; Good things can actually...

01:02

happen; and women and African-Americans... [ image of gifts wrapped in colorful paper]

01:05

actually have a place in religious life.

01:07

Who knew?

01:08

Not only were major changes happening in established churches, [picture of a church]

01:11

but new churches were also popping up all over the place.

01:14

Upstate New York even got the nickname, the

01:18

because of all the revivalist action it was gettin'.

01:20

The burned-over district, [a district burnt over]

01:22

not hard to see why they don't use that on their upstate tourist ads.

01:26

Well, church membership soared, and...

01:28

new denominations were popping up like... [people raising their hands towards the sky]

01:30

tiny plastic moles wearing unusual...

01:32

yellow hats.

01:34

Many people believed they were living....

01:36

in a spiritual awakening, a comic... [man with his hands up facing the sun]

01:38

event signaling the final days of history.

01:41

Other believed religious zealotry... [a city full of smoke]

01:43

was running amok. Across the country...

01:45

wandering preachers,

01:46

most without official training, [ image of 3 men floating over a map]

01:48

built followings among the common people,

01:51

ready to go with a brand of religion [a stage with disco lights]

01:53

with more pizzazz.

01:54

Rather than adding confetti cannons,

01:56

these new evangelists preached.. [a man dancing]

01:58

that God's grace was free...

02:00

and available to all.

02:02

Salvation was non-predetermined, [image of a man and an angel]

02:04

or set aside for a tiny few,

02:06

as the Calvinists had believed for years.

02:08

Praying hard and asking for forgiveness was enough to... [a girl praying with her fingers interlocked]

02:10

convinced God to give mercy to anyone who asked.

02:12

The message that every individual was...

02:14

valuable and equal in the eyes of God... [colorful lights beaming through a window]

02:16

sounded especially great to slaves...

02:18

and free blacks.

02:19

Many slaves converted to the new evangelical...

02:22

denominations during the Second Great Awakening. [small kids dancing]

02:24

They were often more welcome there than...

02:26

the traditional churches. [man in front of a stage waving]

02:28

Still, slave owners didn't want slaves...

02:30

to organize their own church services...

02:32

for fear that it would lead to rebellion.

02:34

So sometimes slave owners tried to put the... [ 2 men dressed in suit and a hat talking to each other]

02:36

kibosh on their slaves' newfound religious enthusiasm.

02:39

Women were also excited by these... [ a watermelon exploding into pieces]

02:41

new churches and some of them even ended up...

02:43

leading them.

02:44

The message is that the Second Great Awakening suddenly made... [a woman praying in a church]

02:47

equality between men and women look...

02:49

like an actual possibility. [man and woman relaxing at a beach]

02:51

Score 1 for girl power...finally.

02:53

Of course, it wasn't all sunshine and lollipops.

02:55

New converts experienced some seriously... [man holding a base ball bat in his hand]

02:58

harsh and sometime violent discrimination.

03:00

Some people are just no good with change.

Full Transcript