Which revival movement occurred in the early 1800s and was connected to social reforms?

• A. First Great Awakening
• B. Second Great Awakening
• C. Both
• D. Neither

Answer: (B)

Religious revival in the early 1800s sparked broad social reform activism. This revival, the Second Great Awakening, began around 1800 and spread through revival meetings and evangelical preaching across the country. Its emphasis on personal conversion and the belief that individuals could choose to live morally and improve society fueled a wave of reform efforts. People organized around temperance to curb alcohol use, abolition to end slavery, and improvements in education, prisons, and mental health care, with many reform-minded women playing key roles as well. The First Great Awakening happened earlier, in the 1730s–1740s, and while it reshaped religion, it didn’t coincide with the same nationwide push for social reform seen in the early 1800s. So the revival movement tied to social reforms in that period is the Second Great Awakening.