Ever since John Winthrop’s famous “city upon a hill” sermon aboard the Arbella in 1630, it’s been tough to separate religion from the spirit of America’s founding. Indeed, some say the evangelical movement of the mid-eighteenth century known as The First Great Awakening played a key role in America’s strive for independence.¹ And don’t think the whole “separation of Church and State” thing in the Constitution came about because the Founding Fathers felt the First Great Awakening was a tad too much. I’ll remind you the whole purpose of the First Great Awakening was to rebel against the Church of England and to recognize broader religious freedom. This is the very philosophy embodied by our constitution.

Our focus in this chapter, though, isn’t the First Great Awakening, but the Second Great Awakening. The Second Great Awakening began in 1790 and lasted for about 50 years. It featured traveling preachers leading revival camps where “hundreds and sometimes thousands of people would gather for miles around in wilderness encampment for four days to a week.”² One such preacher was Charles Finney, who, from September 1830, through June 1831, led various revival campaigns³ in Rochester, Buffalo and “the intermediate towns between there.”⁴ And what facilitated this travel? Why, none other Continue Reading “A Model of Christian Spirit”