AP®HistoryCollege BoardUS HistoryExam QuestionsPeriod 4: 1800-1848The Second Great Awakening

The Second Great Awakening (College Board AP® US History): Exam Questions

3 mins3 questions
11 mark

"The Christian religion has, in itself, a tendency to promote the temporal as well as the spiritual welfare of man. It has a tendency to make men sober, industrious, and prudent citizens, and to render them useful members of society."

Charles Grandison Finney, Lectures on Revivals of Religion, 1835

The excerpt reflects which of the following characteristics of the Second Great Awakening?

  • Emphasis on predestination and the inherent sinfulness of humanity

  • Advocacy for the separation of church and state

  • Belief in the potential for individual and societal improvement through religious commitment

  • Rejection of emotional expressions in religious practices

Choose your answer

21 mark

"The Christian religion has, in itself, a tendency to promote the temporal as well as the spiritual welfare of man. It has a tendency to make men sober, industrious, and prudent citizens, and to render them useful members of society."

Charles Grandison Finney, Lectures on Revivals of Religion, 1835

Which of the following social reforms was most directly influenced by the beliefs expressed in the excerpt?

  • The temperance movement

  • The women's suffrage movement

  • The labor union movement

  • The push for greater religious pluralism

Choose your answer

31 mark

"The Christian religion has, in itself, a tendency to promote the temporal as well as the spiritual welfare of man. It has a tendency to make men sober, industrious, and prudent citizens, and to render them useful members of society."

Charles Grandison Finney, Lectures on Revivals of Religion, 1835

Which of the following most directly explains how the ideas expressed in the excerpt reflect broader societal changes in the early 19th century?

  • The intensification of slavery debates in the U.S. resulted in the growth of pro-slavery religious justifications

  • The rise of utopian communities which reflected their efforts to achieve moral and societal perfection 

  • The Market Revolution emphasized individual effort, moral discipline, and self-improvement

  • The increase in Catholic immigration during the early 19th century resulted in heightening religious tensions

Choose your answer