Final answer:
The Second Great Awakening in New England empowered women in Protestant denominations by encouraging them to speak and express themselves as spiritual equals in church settings. This era emphasized temperance and moral living, making it more likely that premarital sex decreased among churchgoing youth. The movement did not lead to the ordination of female ministers or the establishment of gender-segregated prayer meetings.
Step-by-step explanation:
Outcomes of the Second Great Awakening for Women in New England
The Second Great Awakening had a transformative impact on Protestant denominations, particularly in New England. One of the specific outcomes of the increased importance of women during this period was the empowerment of women within the church. Charles Finney's revival meetings emphasized the role of women by encouraging them to speak publicly in mixed-sex gatherings, fostering a spirit of spiritual equality. While this empowerment did encourage women to become more active in social reforms and in expressing themselves within religious settings, it did not go as far as to fully break the existing gender norms of the time, such as ordaining female ministers or creating gender-segregated meetings.
Given the social and religious context of the era, which emphasized temperance and personal moral reform, it is more plausible that the Second Great Awakening led to a decrease in behaviors viewed as immoral, such as premarital sex, rather than an increase in sexual promiscuity among church members. The message of equality before God preached by Baptists and Methodists appealed to those with less societal power, like women, and fostered a community that aimed to transform society by advocating for righteousness and moral living. These denominations did not require rigorous education for leadership, focusing instead on personal conversion experiences, though they still retained traditional gender and racial boundaries in many respects.