Analysis

The values of the Market Revolution affected religion in America by placing a greater emphasis on **individualism**, while simultaneously helping to create a greater sense of **unity** among Christians.

The value of individualism during the Market Revolution affected religion in America by allowing more people to pursue personal interests. The Market Revolution created job opportunities that allowed many lower-class Americans, many of them women, to earn a comfortable amount of money. This money gave people the opportunity to pursue personal interests, such as politics, the economy, and education. Now that many people had the financial means to pursue personal interests, America experienced a rise of individualism, fueled by these pursuits. This philosophy helped to introduce the idea that people’s actions could control their chances of achieving salvation. After many preachers warned the public of the torments of Hell, many people were intent to incorporate religion and piety into their daily lives to merit salvation. Years previously, the predominant Puritan belief stated that only a predetermined elect would achieve salvation. Most people didn’t try to earn salvation because they were told that nothing they did could increase their chances of joining the elect. However, after the Market Revolution, preachers told the public that Earthly actions were an essential part of earning salvation. The new idea stated that good deeds, morality, and sincere repentance of sins could help people gain acceptance into Heaven in the afterlife. The actions suggested by the preachers of the Second Great Awakening were all actions that must be done of one's own volition. The value of individualism, introduced and enabled by the Market Revolution, gave people control over their religious fate, and encouraged many people to engage in religious activities for the purpose of gaining salvation.

The values of the Market Revolution also affected religion in America by creating a greater sense of unity among Christians. The revolution fostered the values of industrialization and urbanization; and therefore the value of **community**. The revolution resulted in greater concentrations of people living in cities and working in factories. This new way of life was very different from life in the country, where people were spread out and isolated with no real center or community. By bringing the nation physically closer together, the Market Revolution created an environment that allowed for a greater sense of community and unity in religion. At the religious meetings, called **revivals**, many groups of very different people came together, united by the common bond of Christianity. Even different denominations of Protestant Christianity worked together to preach at revivals. There was a great variance in followers of the Second Great Awakening: the wealthy, the poor, men, women, and even whites and blacks all worshipped and repented together at the same revivals as members of the same community. Also, America experienced an increase in membership to organized churches, as opposed to solitary worship. This shows that the movement was deeply rooted in the values of community. The Market Revolution fueled this sense of unity by encouraging industrialization and centralized organizations such as cities and factories. Most of the followers of the Second Great Awakening lived in urban areas; the areas most physically unified and changed by the Market Revolution. This shows that the value of community that was emphasized in the Market Revolution affected religion by creating a sense of unity and community among Christians.

· Kaplan, Richard. "Second Great Awakening." //American History//. ABC-CLIO, 2009. Web. 30 Oct. 2009. . · Foner, Eric. __Give Me Liberty!__. 2 vols. New York: W. W. Norton Company, 2009.
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-AS