Second Great Awakening early 1800's to 1830's
Third Great Awakening late 1850's to early 1900's
Both drew great numbers of followers from the South.
The entire Southern experience, from the formation of the US to present, has been a fairytale. The vast majority of Southerners did not own slaves, yet they fought, in large numbers, to keep slavery. Why? Because if you're a poor, white Southerner, you're still better off than the black slave. It was a hierarchy both antebellum and postbellum. This is what the majority of Confederates were fighting for, their way of life, which included the owning of blacks in Southern society. The two are so intertwined (slavery and Southern way of life) it's impossible to separate them.
A large part of why the South is still so fucked, is because Reconstruction only lasted until 1877 (in comparison to the system of slavery which was practiced from colonization up to 1865) and Jim Crow was allowed to run unchecked. Also Reconstruction focused largely on stigmatizing and punishing the South, rather than trying to lift it out of it's hierarchical mentality.
If you look at African-American history, the Nadir (the lowest point of the African-American experience) is commonly considered to be from the end of Reconstruction to the early 1920's. This period of time is considered by scholars as worse for blacks than it was under slavery. Black slaves at least had some monetary value, and thus protection, by their owners, whereas blacks during the Nadir had no value or effective protection under the law.
The "personal hell on Earth" was created by the Southerners themselves. Religion plays it's part, as it always does, but it's not the sole contributor to this "hell" you speak of.
Third Great Awakening late 1850's to early 1900's
Both drew great numbers of followers from the South.
The entire Southern experience, from the formation of the US to present, has been a fairytale. The vast majority of Southerners did not own slaves, yet they fought, in large numbers, to keep slavery. Why? Because if you're a poor, white Southerner, you're still better off than the black slave. It was a hierarchy both antebellum and postbellum. This is what the majority of Confederates were fighting for, their way of life, which included the owning of blacks in Southern society. The two are so intertwined (slavery and Southern way of life) it's impossible to separate them.
A large part of why the South is still so fucked, is because Reconstruction only lasted until 1877 (in comparison to the system of slavery which was practiced from colonization up to 1865) and Jim Crow was allowed to run unchecked. Also Reconstruction focused largely on stigmatizing and punishing the South, rather than trying to lift it out of it's hierarchical mentality.
If you look at African-American history, the Nadir (the lowest point of the African-American experience) is commonly considered to be from the end of Reconstruction to the early 1920's. This period of time is considered by scholars as worse for blacks than it was under slavery. Black slaves at least had some monetary value, and thus protection, by their owners, whereas blacks during the Nadir had no value or effective protection under the law.
The "personal hell on Earth" was created by the Southerners themselves. Religion plays it's part, as it always does, but it's not the sole contributor to this "hell" you speak of.
