The Great Revival, 1787-1805:  The Origins of the Southern Evangelical Mind.  By John B. Boles.  Lexington, University Press of Kentucky, 1972.

Dr. Boles has written extensively on Southern and religious history over the past 30 years.  In this work, he studies the start and effects of the massive religious revival in the antebellum South from 1787-1805. 

Boles first section details the general decline of the religious faith following the twenty years after the American Revolution.  He accurately depicts the cyclical growth and decline in church membership in the South with a general growth of deism.  These cyclical events led to a growing sense of crisis in the Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptist faiths.  The author shows how the religious leaders tapped into this feeling of apprehension, using biblical scriptures and the approaching millennium to provide the fuel needed to start the coming religious fanaticism.

In Chapter 5, Boles relates how the religious conflagration ignited at the Gasper River revival in June 1800.  This meeting led to an emotional synergistic whirlwind, which led to the development that eventually enveloped the entire southern region of the United States by the use of camp meetings.  These large, open-air arenas allowed an emotional outburst that consumed the audience in attendance.  The author states that religious affiliation did not matter at these events for all three of the major religious denominational leaders used this highly charged atmosphere to inspire not only their own congregation, but also any visitors who attended these sessions. 

According to the author, the members of the audience would experience such a powerful, emotional outpouring of feelings of faith that they would be afflicted physically.  The symptoms exhibited themselves by “six distinct varieties, commonly called the falling exercise, the rolling exercise, the ‘jerks’, the barking exercise, the dancing exercise, and the lagging and singing exercises” (p. 67). 

The use of camp meetings spread from congregation to congregation as the attendees spread through out the Southern states and brought news of what they felt was the second coming of Christ.  These revivals led to increased feelings of anxiety and willingness to infuse themselves with religious ardor and piety.  Boles states that personal letters, journals and newspapers provide clear evidence that this sense of revivalism developed throughout the various states as members of the various congregations emigrated westward and the “exercises” they experienced during the exhortations and ministrations of their religious leaders were related to others.

These revival meetings had their critics and the author discusses their views in chapter seven.  As camp meetings spread to the metropolitan areas of the Northeast, the more orthodox, traditional minded preachers did not agree that these “exercises” emanated from a holy source, but rather came from the psychological illusions derived from mass hysteria.  Some of the more vocal and orthodox clergy even went so far as to hint of a possible demonic origin for these physical manifestations.

In his conclusion, the author examines the lasting effects of the Great Revival the South.  How the Great Revival “offered the hope, the feeling, the finality desired by the common people” (p. 188).  He shows how vestiges of this revival have left an indelible imprint on Southern society with the retention of conservative values through out the region.

Dr. Boles provides a through, solidly researched scholarly work.  This chronologically organized book provides a much-needed tome for those interested in the field of religious history.  He aptly handles the difficult task of describing the religious atmosphere in the South by the use of a large number of personal letters, journals, diaries and newspaper accounts. 

Texas Christian University                                                             Thomas Walker

In the early months of 1800, many Southern leaders of the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist denominations lamented the emaciated nature of religious commitment in their communities.  By 1810 things had changed.  During that decade, revivals swept through the South, creating what southern historian John Boles calls a “watershed in the religious history of the South” (183).  Boles, who is professor of Southern history at Rice University and author of many books on Southern history, in addition to his role as managing editor of the Journal of Southern History, details this watershed movement in his book, The Great Revival: The Beginnings of the Bible Belt, and in the process describes both the initial spread of southern evangelicalism as well as its interplay with the larger Southern culture.

Boles begins his narrative with the years leading up to the Great Revival, from about the Revolution to 1800.  During this time, Presbyterian, Baptist, and Methodist clergy, those who are labeled collectively as “evangelicals,” spread their message throughout the South, but only found an unreceptive audience.  Journals, diaries, and letters from these pastors describe a general despair these men felt as religion seemed to be ignored or forgotten throughout both the settled areas of the Southeast and the frontier of the West.  Deeply desiring a change to this apathy, several of these leaders began calling on God to revive their churches and convict men and women of the need to experience a saving conversion to faith in Christ.  Trusting in the providence of God, these Southern men felt strongly that their prayers would be answered.  Thus by 1800, a mindset existed that was extremely receptive to the idea of a wide-spread revival.

In the frontier of Kentucky in June of 1800, a movement of religious enthusiasm arose which many interpreted as God’s handy work.  At religious camp meetings, the most famous of which was held at Cane Ridge, men and women from throughout the region congregated and listened to preachers from the Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches who emphasized a literal heaven, literal hell, literal sin, and literal damnation if an individual did not literally trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.  In response to this message, the congregations trembled, shook, cried, shouted, sang, collapsed, and above all, converted to an evangelical form of Protestantism.  Once preachers in the Southeast heard of this movement, they became convinced that their prayers for spiritual revival had been answered.  These pastors mimicked in many ways the preaching and teaching of these camp meeting revivalists, and hundreds of congregations throughout the South converted to the emotional evangelicalism that was popularized in Kentucky.  The evangelical churches swelled with members, and by the 1830s, Southern evangelicalism had firmly entrenched itself into the culture and mind of the South.

According to Boles, as a result of the spread of this individualistic, conversion-oriented message, which was initiated through these series of religious revivals, Southern evangelicalism took on some distinct traits.  One in particular came through the form of schism and unity.  Most notably various ecumenically minded pastors, led by individuals like Barton Stone and James O’Kelly, felt led through the revivals to reorganize the church under new ideas of unity and doctrine.  These dissenting voices to the denominational bodies formed splinter groups under the guise of following the Spirit of God.  The emphasis for these leaders became their individual perceptions of Christian doctrine in spite of the doctrinal statements of their denominations—a far cry from the attitude of average Anglican and Catholic priests and parishioners.  This emphasis on the individual in turn led to an individualistic theology and world view, which de-emphasized the political and economic participation of Christians and championed personal salvation and sanctification.  As Boles argues, this form of theology retarded the Southern evangelical church from formulating social doctrines the way churches in the north did, and allowed the Southern church to become complicit in many of the manifestations of broader Southern culture (i.e. slavery).

Boles’ work stands as a standard in Southern religious history.  Converted from his dissertation in 1972, the work has lost little of its potency and has provided an interpretive framework for many historians who have followed.  Two suggestions to the work should be noted.  First, Boles gives little comparison to the revival movements in the North during this same time to see if they demonstrated similar reactions from the clergy, the congregation, and the culture.  Research in this area would be quite beneficial.  Also, the work relies mainly on the narratives of the leaders of the evangelical churches.  Little is mentioned from the clergy of the non-participating churches or from the laity themselves.  Of course, discovering the thoughts and feelings of common folk in the early 1800s is difficult at best, but if manuscript evidence could be utilized, it would better develop an interpretation of the Great Revival.  These suggestions, however, are items that should properly be handled by follow-up research and do not negate the fine narrative that Boles has provided.

Blake Killingsworth

The Great Revival, 1787-1805: The Origins of the Southern Evangelical Mind. By John Boles. (Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1972. Pp xvi, 236. ISBN  0-8131-1260-5.)

 The reputation of the South as intensely religious has historical merit and John Boles describes how this reputation was earned. Engaging in a daunting task of research, Boles describes why, how, and where the religious explosion in the South occurred. His book is organized chronologically, beginning with a chapter on the pre-history of the Great Revival which is aptly called, "Setting the Stage." For scholars and non-scholars alike, this book is excellent for its deep and broad coverage of the religious revival during 1787 - 1805.

Boles begins by describing how the Episcopal church was in decline and additionally how masses of people were moving to Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia. Many ministers were concerned with what John Rippon is quoted as saying, "religion appears to be at a very low ebb with every denomination in this state" (17). While three religions had been established in the region (Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians) they had not yet experienced any form of the religious fervor that would come.

 Boles compares the religious outbreak to "a room filled with oil-soaked cloths" which once ignited would spread across the south (35). Once a revival attracted enough attention, the movement began to spread. He cites Logan County and James McGready as being central to the beginning of the Revival. Boles describes McGready's preaching style saying, "his most effective homiletic technique was the intensification of his listeners' fear of damnation" (40).  While Boles describes McGready in detail, he also introduces other prominent ministers who would come to the stage after McGready.

 Boles believes the emotionalism of the revival began to gain significance in 1800. While he acknowledges that revivals had been going on for a few years, he does believe during this specific time period that there were several ministers who came to the forefront of the movement. He includes in this group, John McGee, William McGee, John Rankin, William Hodge and Barton Hodge. Boles also notes that their differing religious affiliations had little to do with the fact that all preachers inspired the audience to whom they preached by exhortation and strong conviction.

 Boles examines the Cane Ridge Revival and says that estimates place the attendance between 12 and 25 thousand and believes that it is here that many seemed to have lost control of their emotions.  Indeed, Boles believes that Kentucky was distinct for the attendant "exercises" (67). These exercises are described in varieties such as jerks, dancing, rolling and laughing (67). What is notable about Cane Ridge, according to Boles, is that its success spread to more preachers who wanted to recreate the experience. Boles then pauses in the book to compare the state of religion with the few years prior when church leaders bemoaned the fate of religion in the region.

 Importantly, Boles goes to great lengths to dispel the notion that the revival occurred mainly in Kentucky. He says that from letters, journals, and other writings of the time, there is strong evidence to indicate that much of the South was caught up in the Revival. Tennessee, Georgia and even states from where the westward moving settlers had originated (like Virginia)  also experienced the preaching, emotionalism and "exercises."

 To provide an alternative view of the revival, Boles includes a chapter on critics of the Revival. Those preachers who were more orthodox and especially those who were from the Northeast proclaimed that, "the revival and its excesses to be nothing more than the demonic delusions of an ignorant people" (90). Additionally, Boles says that "it became obvious that the camp meeting thrived best under the tutelage of the less educated, more emotional Methodist itinerants, former separate Baptists, and the New Side Presbyterians" (95). However, Boles believes that even the detractors served a purpose in the Great Revival saying, "it triggered a chain reaction of responses, proving anew the complexity and pervasiveness of the southern evangelical cast of mind" (110).

 After having discussed the preface to the movement, the key players and its detractors, Boles then addresses the specific elements of the revivals, or camp meetings. He points out that there was a true interdenominational spirit among the preachers and discusses how all three denominations mentioned earlier would often preach interchangeably. Boles discusses the strong impact singing played on the environment of the camp meetings.

 Boles concludes his study with examining the effects of the Great Revival.  He says that increased church membership and "improved manners" were the most "transitory legacy of the movement" (183), and that the "most significant result of the Great Revival was the piestic reformation of morals which it seemed to effect" (185). On a more personal level, Boles suggests that the Great Revival offered "the hope, the feeling, and finality desired by the common people" (188).  Boles sees distinct vestiges of the Great Revival on today's' (1972) society with the most notable being that he does not see a class division with respect to beliefs. He says that all classes in the South ultimately adhere to a conservative faith. Boles believes that the "dominant religious denominations in the South became so wedded to orthodoxy that they were unable to adjust creatively to changes" over time (196) and concludes that to this day, this unwillingness to change is a regional characteristic brought about through the Revival.
The strength of Boles' study is two fold; his ability at narrative and his meticulous research combine to make this an excellent book on the genesis and evolution of the Great Revival. He is fair in presentation of knowable facts and when he does speculate as to motives and forces of change, he does so cautiously and with ample evidence with which to point. His last chapter nicely brings together the effects of the Great Revival. All chapters could be read out of context or as pull-out sections as they are transitioned cogently with each other. Boles has added a foundational book to the understanding of the forces behind the Great Revival and its lasting effects.
 
 

Texas Christian University

Diana Vela