The Role Of Women In The Second Great Awakening

The Second Great Awakening, the antebellum marketplace revolution, and the Second Great Awakening were pivotal in changing the roles of women in society, work, and family in the years 1815-1861. This was due to women being more prominent in churches and being recognized for their roles in families. The new church saw women as the most prominent attendees and would shape society in ways such as the abolishment of slavery. The antebellum-market revolution and Second Great Awakening both had great effects on women’s roles. The Second Great Awakening is a religious revival which took place in the United States’ early 19th-century. It made religion the focal point of many people. During this period churches saw the highest growth. It was during this period that women made up the majority of new church members. Charles Grandison Finney, who was a preacher, encouraged women’s prayer aloud. She was also one the first preachers to include women in their religion. Finney had commented upon a conversion in 1831 that was the result of “conversation, prayer,” and this led to the women becoming members of the church. This experience allowed her to return home to the Christian faith which she once believed in. Additionally, women were given the responsibility to teach children the proper virtues and morals. The fact that they did not have to do the household chores meant that they could spend more time with their children. The image Sarony, Major, or “The Happy Mother”, is a picture of a woman and her two children. This was a time when family size declined and women were more likely to marry later. Because they were the centre of the household, women also spoil their children. Godey’s Lady Book of 1845 was a women’s magazine that illustrated how women were “first teachers of all human beings” according to God. They are not allowed to receive the education they need to be able to care for their children. Due to the transition to a more market-based economy, women also found new jobs in factories. The working conditions were difficult for women, who had to work six hours a day and earned low wages. Harriet Farley, who wrote in the Lowell Offering about what it was like to work in the Lowell Textile Mill, described the experience. It attracted “worthy and virtuous, intelligently, and well-educated young girls,” which was their first time with independence. They worked hard to “get more money” and did so as quickly as possible. Women were given new roles within society, but African Americans were still in slavery. Many believed in the abolition of slavery. The photograph “Selling of a Mother from her Child” shows a mother being separated with her child. They would “sell the mother while she kept her children” and this was done “very frequently, and often, too”. It was used to illustrate the idea of anti-slavery as many considered this inhumane behavior. Harriet Beecher Stowe (an abolitionist) captured the degrading effects of slavery in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. This led to many people joining abolitionist movements. The Liberator was an anti-slavery newspaper that published the article “What Women Need to Do with Slavery:A Conversation”. This dialogue captures the conversations between two women. One joined the antislavery cause while the other criticized it. Harriet the woman who “joined Anti-Slavery Society” was doing it “accordingly her own senses”, as she believed women had “strengths and the enlightening ability of truth”. This attitude was the catalyst for many reforms that followed. A wide range of reformers attempted to improve society’s quality. Dorothea Dix in 1843 made a protest about the conditions facing the mentally ill. She said that insane persons are “confined…in cages…in cellars…stalls…pens” and are “chained naked, beaten with sticks, and lashed to obedience.” Dix was not in favor of prisoners being kept in the exact same cells. Dix protested the change that resulted in reformatories and correctional facilities. Women around the globe were granted roles in their families, workplaces, and societies as a result the Second Great Awakening and the Antebellum Market Revolution. This led to women being respected and given prominence in every aspect of daily life. They became leaders in ending slavery and improving the lives of the disadvantaged. Women were recognized for their contributions to their families and churches from 1815-181860.