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Difficulty: Very hardThe Second Great Awakening and Social Reform

"The idea of complete holiness, or perfectionism, is not merely an inward sentiment, but a call to revolutionize every relationship of human life. The prevailing system of marriage and private property isolates individuals, breeding selfishness and conflict. To truly prepare for the Kingdom of God, believers must abandon these worldly divisions and enter into a single, unified family where all labor, property, and affection are held in common, modeled after the early Christian church."

— John Humphrey Noyes, *The Berean*, 1847

Which of the following early-nineteenth-century developments was the most direct cause of the social experiment advocated in the excerpt?

  1. A
    The widespread economic stabilization brought by the Market Revolution, which successfully eliminated industrial wealth inequality.
  2. B
    A series of federal judicial rulings that weakened the market economy by prioritizing communal land charters over private contracts.
  3. The rise of religious revivalism that emphasized human perfectibility and the duty to build a moral society on Earth.Answer
  4. D
    The alignment of federal foreign policy with international reform efforts to establish cooperative colonies in Latin America.

Answer

The correct answer is the rise of religious revivalism that emphasized human perfectibility and the duty to build a moral society on Earth.
The sentiments expressed in the excerpt reflect the religious perfectionism and millenarianism of the Second Great Awakening. Religious leaders of this era rejected traditional Calvinist views of predestination, instead preaching that individuals possessed free will and could achieve spiritual and moral perfection. This theological shift led many believers to attempt to reconstruct society along cooperative lines to prepare for the second coming of Christ, resulting in the creation of utopian communities like the Oneida Community.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus text.
The text by John Humphrey Noyes advocates for 'complete holiness' or perfectionism, claiming that it requires reshaping society by sharing property and labor in common (describing the basis for utopian communities like Oneida).
Understanding the source's arguments helps identify the historical movements and ideologies that influenced it.
2
Contextualize the source within the early nineteenth century.
The passage, dated 1847, falls within Period 4 (1800-1848), which was characterized by the Second Great Awakening and various social reforms.
Placing the source in its correct time period allows us to connect it to broader trends, such as religious revivalism and the growth of reform movements.
3
Link perfectionist ideology to its historical cause.
The concept of perfectionism (the belief that individuals and society can achieve moral perfection) was a core theological tenet of the Second Great Awakening, which rejected Calvinist predestination and motivated individuals to actively reform the world.
This establishes the direct cause-and-effect relationship between the Second Great Awakening and the rise of utopian social experiments.
4
Evaluate the distractors.
The Market Revolution did not eliminate inequality; the Marshall Court strengthened private contracts, not communal charters; and the Monroe Doctrine was a foreign policy doctrine, not an initiative to build cooperative colonies.
Eliminating incorrect historical interpretations confirms the accuracy of the correct option.

Key Concept

The Second Great Awakening and Utopian Communities
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

The Second Great Awakening and Social Reform

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