Final answer:
The NY revival, particularly under Charles Grandison Finney, marked a significant period in the Second Great Awakening, melding intense emotional religious experiences with social reform movements such as abolition and women's rights, and transforming both individual spirituality and societal norms.
Step-by-step explanation:
Significance of the NY Revival During the Second Great Awakening
The NY revival, led by Charles Grandison Finney, was significant for its impact on society and the spread of religious fervor during the Second Great Awakening. Finney, a prominent Presbyterian minister, became known for his revival meetings that aimed to provoke an intense, emotional religious experience among attendees. Starting in 1821, he orchestrated revivals in western New York that were carefully planned spectacles designed to ignite religious reform. Finney's approach included praying for sinners by name, introducing the "anxious bench" for potential converts, and calling for confessions and forgiveness. Furthermore, Finney encouraged public speaking among women in mixed-sex gatherings, empowering them as spiritual equals, and utilized his platform to protest against slavery and support the abolitionist movement.
Finney's greatest success came after 1830 when he adopted a ministry in Rochester, New York, which was thriving due to the Erie Canal. His efforts contributed to the growth of reform movements in abolition, temperance, women's rights, and education. New religious sects also emerged, and social reform became a central theme in conjunction with spiritual revival. The inclusion of emotive religious music and hymns using popular melodies and folk instruments like the fiddle played a significant role in attracting large crowds to these revivals, leaving a lasting legacy in religious music.
The Second Great Awakening's influence extended beyond individual spiritual rebirth to a broader societal transformation. The movement fostered a culture that rejected the predestinarian Calvinism and emphasized evangelical principles such as the primary role of Scripture and the importance of proselytizing.