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The Second Great Awakening took place during the 1790s and early 1800s. An important leader of this movement was Charles Grandison Finney. Finney held revivals which were extremely long prayer meetings called revivals where many people converted to Christianity.

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During the Second Great Awakening, church membership grew greatly. This movement started in the Northeast and moved to the frontier regions. The First Amendment guaranteed freedom of religion so preachers were allowed to minister to anyone who wanted to listen. A lot of the new church members were women and African-Americans.

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A lot of social reformers worked to prevent alcohol abuse. Many Americans believed that social problems such as family violence were caused by alcohol. Worries about alcohol abuse led to the Temperance Movement. This movement tried to prevent people from drinking hard liquor.

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Reformers asked people to limit the amount of beer and wine they drank to small amounts. Groups like the American Temperance Union or American Temperance Society helped to spread the message. Lyman Beecher spoke about the evils of alcohol.

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The prison system was another target for reform. Dorothea Dix was someone who fought to bring a change to the prison system. She spoke about the terrible things she say in prisons while visiting the mentally ill. Facilities for the mentally ill people were built because of her action. Eventually more than 100 were dedicated to the same purpose.

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Not only were mentally ill and criminals kept in prisons, but runaway children and orphans too. Begging and stealing was they only way they could survive so they were given the same punishments as adults. Several local and state governments founded reform schools where they would be under strict rules and learn useful skills.

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In the 1800s, availability of education varied widely. The South and West had very few schools while New England had many. Students of all ages were taught in small schoolhouses. The quality of education was affected by wealth and social background. Wealthy families could send kids to private school or get tutors while poor children had to go to public schools.

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The Common School Movement wanted all kids to be taught in one place, regardless of background. In 1837, Horace Mann got Massachusetts to double school budgets and raise teachers' salaries. He began the first school for teacher training and made the school year longer.

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Greater opportunities were created for women after the education reform. An all-female academy was started by Catherine Beecher. Women were not allowed in medical school so they made their own in 1850.

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Parents thought that girls needed very little education. This was the reason that very few learned to read and write. They could go to school, but many parents didn't want them to go.

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Free African Americans were allowed to go to school in the Midwest and North. They couldn't do this in the south. Many slaveholders were afraid that if slaves learned to read and write, they might start a revolt.

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Free African Americans lived in the North. They lived in cities such as New York or Philadelphia.
Many African Americans wanted schools for black Americans. In 1855, Boston allowed African American children to attend schools where white kids went to school.