Burned-over district
Encyclopedia
"Burned-over district" refers to the religious scene in western
and central
region of New York, in the early 19th century, where religious revivals and Pentecostal movements of the Second Great Awakening
took place.
The term was coined by Charles Grandison Finney
who in his 1876 book Autobiography of Charles G. Finney referred to a "burnt district" to denote an area in central
and western New York State
during the Second Great Awakening
. The name was inspired by the notion that the area had been so heavily evangelized
as to have no "fuel" (unconverted population) left over to "burn" (convert).
When religion is related to reform movements of the period, such as abolition
, women's rights
, and utopian social experiments, the region expands to include areas of central New York that were important to these movements.
scarce, lending the piety of the area many of the self-taught qualities that proved susceptible to folk religion
. Besides producing many mainline Protestant
converts, especially in nonconformist
sects, the area spawned a number of innovative religious movements, all founded by laypeople
during the early 19th century. These include:
In addition to religious activity, the region including the burned-over district was famous for social radicalism. Elizabeth Cady Stanton
, the early feminist
, was a resident of Seneca Falls
in central New York where she and others in the community initiated the Seneca Falls Convention
devoted to women's suffrage
.
The larger region was the main source of converts to the Fourierist
utopian socialist
movement. The Skaneateles Community
in central New York was such an experiment. The Oneida Society, likewise in central New York, was also considered a utopian group. Related to radical reform, central New York provided many members of Hunter Patriots, some of whom volunteered to invade Canada during the Patriot War
.
and Lake Erie
and contains the following counties:
Western New York
Western New York is the westernmost region of the state of New York. It includes the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara Falls, the surrounding suburbs, as well as the outlying rural areas of the Great Lakes lowlands, the Genesee Valley, and the Southern Tier. Some historians, scholars and others...
and central
Central New York
Central New York is a term used to broadly describe the central region of New York State, roughly including the following counties and cities:...
region of New York, in the early 19th century, where religious revivals and Pentecostal movements of the Second Great Awakening
Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a Christian revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States. The movement began around 1800, had begun to gain momentum by 1820, and was in decline by 1870. The Second Great Awakening expressed Arminian theology, by which every person could be...
took place.
The term was coined by Charles Grandison Finney
Charles Grandison Finney
Charles Grandison Finney was a leader in the Second Great Awakening. He has been called The Father of Modern Revivalism. Finney was best known as an innovative revivalist, an opponent of Old School Presbyterian theology, an advocate of Christian perfectionism, a pioneer in social reforms in favor...
who in his 1876 book Autobiography of Charles G. Finney referred to a "burnt district" to denote an area in central
Central New York
Central New York is a term used to broadly describe the central region of New York State, roughly including the following counties and cities:...
and western New York State
Western New York
Western New York is the westernmost region of the state of New York. It includes the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara Falls, the surrounding suburbs, as well as the outlying rural areas of the Great Lakes lowlands, the Genesee Valley, and the Southern Tier. Some historians, scholars and others...
during the Second Great Awakening
Second Great Awakening
The Second Great Awakening was a Christian revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States. The movement began around 1800, had begun to gain momentum by 1820, and was in decline by 1870. The Second Great Awakening expressed Arminian theology, by which every person could be...
. The name was inspired by the notion that the area had been so heavily evangelized
Evangelism
Evangelism refers to the practice of relaying information about a particular set of beliefs to others who do not hold those beliefs. The term is often used in reference to Christianity....
as to have no "fuel" (unconverted population) left over to "burn" (convert).
When religion is related to reform movements of the period, such as abolition
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
, women's rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
, and utopian social experiments, the region expands to include areas of central New York that were important to these movements.
Religion in the District
Western New York still had a frontier quality during the early canal boom, making professional and established clergyClergy
Clergy is the generic term used to describe the formal religious leadership within a given religion. A clergyman, churchman or cleric is a member of the clergy, especially one who is a priest, preacher, pastor, or other religious professional....
scarce, lending the piety of the area many of the self-taught qualities that proved susceptible to folk religion
Folk religion
Folk religion consists of ethnic or regional religious customs under the umbrella of an organized religion, but outside of official doctrine and practices...
. Besides producing many mainline Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
converts, especially in nonconformist
Nonconformism
Nonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...
sects, the area spawned a number of innovative religious movements, all founded by laypeople
Laity
In religious organizations, the laity comprises all people who are not in the clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the...
during the early 19th century. These include:
- The Latter Day Saint movementLatter Day Saint movementThe Latter Day Saint movement is a group of independent churches tracing their origin to a Christian primitivist movement founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. in the late 1820s. Collectively, these churches have over 14 million members...
(whose largest branch is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Joseph Smith, Jr. lived in the area and claimed he was led by the angel Moroni to his source for the Book of MormonBook of MormonThe Book of Mormon is a sacred text of the Latter Day Saint movement that adherents believe contains writings of ancient prophets who lived on the American continent from approximately 2600 BC to AD 421. It was first published in March 1830 by Joseph Smith, Jr...
, the golden platesGolden PlatesAccording to Latter Day Saint belief, the golden plates are the source from which Joseph Smith, Jr. translated the Book of Mormon, a sacred text of the faith...
, near Palmyra, New YorkPalmyra (town), New YorkPalmyra is a town in Wayne County, New York, USA. The population was 7,672 at the 2000 census. The town is named after the ancient city Palmyra in Syria....
. - The MilleritesMilleritesThe Millerites were the followers of the teachings of William Miller who, in 1833, first shared publicly his belief in the coming Second Advent of Jesus Christ in roughly the year 1843.-Origins:...
. William MillerWilliam Miller (preacher)William Miller was an American Baptist preacher who is credited with beginning the mid-nineteenth century North American religious movement now known as Adventism. Among his direct spiritual heirs are several major religious denominations, including Seventh-day Adventists and Advent Christians...
was a farmer who lived in Low Hampton, New York, who preached that the literal Second ComingSecond ComingIn Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
would occur "October 22, 1844." Millerism became extremely popular in western New York State, and some views remain active in church organizations affilitiated with Adventism. - The Fox sistersFox sistersThe Fox sisters were three sisters from New York who played an important role in the creation of Spiritualism. The three sisters were Leah Fox , Margaret Fox and Kate Fox . The two younger sisters used "rappings" to convince their much older sister and others that they were communicating with...
of Hydesville, New YorkArcadia, New YorkArcadia is a town in Wayne County, New York, United States. The population was 14,889 at the 2000 census.The Town of Arcadia is on the south border of the county and is east of Rochester NY.- History :The town was first settled around 1791....
conducted the first table-rapping séanceSéanceA séance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word "séance" comes from the French word for "seat," "session" or "sitting," from the Old French "seoir," "to sit." In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma"...
s in the area, leading to the American movement of Spiritualism (centered in Lily DaleLily DaleLily Dale is a spiritualist community of the Modern Spiritualist movement located in Chautauqua County, New York, USA. Lily Dale became renowned for Spiritualism when members moved the home of its American founders, Kate and Margaret Fox, to the town after it was purchased in 1927.Lily Dale is a...
) that taught communication with the dead. - The ShakersShakersThe United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, known as the Shakers, is a religious sect originally thought to be a development of the Religious Society of Friends...
were very active in the area, with their first communal farm establishing in central New York. - The Oneida SocietyOneida SocietyThe Oneida Community was a religious commune founded by John Humphrey Noyes in 1848 in Oneida, New York. The community believed that Jesus had already returned in the year 70 AD, making it possible for them to bring about Jesus's millennial kingdom themselves, and be free of sin and perfect in this...
was a large sectarian group that established a successful community in central New York that subsequently disbanded. It was known for its unique interpretation of group marriageGroup marriageGroup marriage, also known as multi-lateral marriage, is a form of polyamory in which more than two persons form a family unit, with all the members of the group marriage being considered to be married to all the other members of the group marriage, and all members of the marriage share parental...
which had mates chosen by committee and offspring of the community raised in common.
In addition to religious activity, the region including the burned-over district was famous for social radicalism. Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Elizabeth Cady Stanton was an American social activist, abolitionist, and leading figure of the early woman's movement...
, the early feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
, was a resident of Seneca Falls
Seneca Falls (village), New York
Seneca Falls is a village in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 6,861 at the 2000 census. The village is in the Town of Seneca Falls, east of Geneva, New York. On March 16, 2010, village residents voted to dissolve the village, a move that would take effect at the end of 2011...
in central New York where she and others in the community initiated the Seneca Falls Convention
Seneca Falls Convention
The Seneca Falls Convention was an early and influential women's rights convention held in Seneca Falls, New York, July 19–20, 1848. It was organized by local New York women upon the occasion of a visit by Boston-based Lucretia Mott, a Quaker famous for her speaking ability, a skill rarely...
devoted to women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
.
The larger region was the main source of converts to the Fourierist
Charles Fourier
François Marie Charles Fourier was a French philosopher. An influential thinker, some of Fourier's social and moral views, held to be radical in his lifetime, have become main currents in modern society...
utopian socialist
Utopian socialism
Utopian socialism is a term used to define the first currents of modern socialist thought as exemplified by the work of Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, and Robert Owen which inspired Karl Marx and other early socialists and were looked on favorably...
movement. The Skaneateles Community
Skaneateles Community
Skaneateles Community was a utopian social experiment established in 1843 by the Society for Universal Inquiry and Reform in a farm near Mottville, in Skaneateles in Upstate New York. It was one of several communities established by the Society prior to the Civil War. It survived for three years....
in central New York was such an experiment. The Oneida Society, likewise in central New York, was also considered a utopian group. Related to radical reform, central New York provided many members of Hunter Patriots, some of whom volunteered to invade Canada during the Patriot War
Patriot War
The Battle of Windsor was a short-lived campaign in the eastern Michigan area of the United States and the Windsor area of Upper Canada. A group of men on both sides of the border, calling themselves "Patriots", formed small militias in 1837 with the intention of seizing the Southern Ontario...
.
Location
The district can be broadly described as the area in New York State between AlbanyAlbany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
and Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
and contains the following counties:
- AlleganyAllegany County, New YorkAllegany County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 48,946. Its name derives from a Delaware Indian word, applied by settlers of Western New York State to a trail that followed the Allegheny River. Its county seat is...
- CattaraugusCattaraugus County, New YorkCattaraugus County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 80,317. The county seat is Little Valley.-History:...
- ChautauquaChautauqua County, New York-Major highways:* Interstate 86/New York State Route 17 * Interstate 90 * U.S. Route 20* U.S. Route 62* New York State Route 5* New York State Route 39* New York State Route 60* New York State Route 394...
- ErieErie County, New YorkErie County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 919,040. The county seat is Buffalo. The county's name comes from Lake Erie, which in turn comes from the Erie tribe of American Indians who lived south and east of the lake before 1654.Erie...
- GeneseeGenesee County, New YorkGenesee County is a county located in Western New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 60,079. Its name is from the Seneca Indian word Gen-nis'-hee-yo meaning "The Beautiful Valley." Its county seat is Batavia.- History :...
- LivingstonLivingston County, New YorkAs of the census of 2000, there were 64,328 people, 22,150 households, and 15,349 families residing in the county. The population density was 102 people per square mile . There were 24,023 housing units at an average density of 38 per square mile...
- MonroeMonroe County, New YorkMonroe County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 744,344. It is named after James Monroe, fifth President of the United States of America. Its county seat is the city of Rochester....
- NiagaraNiagara County, New YorkNiagara County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 216,469. The county seat is Lockport. The county name is from the Iroquois word Onguiaahra; meaning the strait or thunder of waters. It is the location of Niagara Falls and Fort Niagara, and...
- OntarioOntario County, New YorkAs of the census of 2000, there were 100,224 people, 38,370 households, and 26,360 families residing in the county. The population density was 156 people per square mile . There were 42,647 housing units at an average density of 66 per square mile...
- OrleansOrleans County, New YorkAs of the census of 2000, there were 44,171 people, 15,363 households, and 10,846 families residing in the county. The population density was 113 people per square mile . There were 17,347 housing units at an average density of 44 per square mile...
- SenecaSeneca County, New YorkAs of the census of 2000, there were 33,342 people, 12,630 households, and 8,626 families residing in the county. The population density was 103 people per square mile . There were 14,794 housing units at an average density of 46 per square mile...
- SteubenSteuben County, New YorkSteuben County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 98,990. Its name is in honor of Baron von Steuben, a German general who fought on the American side in the American Revolutionary War, though it is not pronounced the same...
- WayneWayne County, New YorkWayne County is a county located in the US state of New York. It is part of the Rochester, New York Metropolitan Statistical Area and lies on the south shore of Lake Ontario, forming part of the northern border of the United States with Canada. The name honors General Anthony Wayne, an American...
- WyomingWyoming County, New YorkWyoming County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. At the 2010 census, the population was 42,155. The county seat is Warsaw. The name is from a modified Delaware Indian word meaning "broad bottom lands"...
- YatesYates County, New YorkYates County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population was 25,348. The county seat is Penn Yan. The name is in honor of Joseph C. Yates, who as Governor of New York signed the act establishing the county....
See also
- John Humphrey NoyesJohn Humphrey NoyesJohn Humphrey Noyes was an American utopian socialist. He founded the Oneida Community in 1848. He coined the term "free love".-Early activism:...
- Charles Grandison FinneyCharles Grandison FinneyCharles Grandison Finney was a leader in the Second Great Awakening. He has been called The Father of Modern Revivalism. Finney was best known as an innovative revivalist, an opponent of Old School Presbyterian theology, an advocate of Christian perfectionism, a pioneer in social reforms in favor...
- Ellen G. WhiteEllen G. WhiteEllen Gould White was a prolific author and an American Christian pioneer. She, along with other Sabbatarian Adventist leaders, such as Joseph Bates and her husband James White, would form what is now known as the Seventh-day Adventist Church.Ellen White reported to her fellow believers her...
- Folk Magic
- Great disappointmentGreat DisappointmentThe Great Disappointment was a major event in the history of the Millerite movement, a 19th-century American Christian sect that formed out of the Second Great Awakening. Based on his interpretations of the prophecies in the book of Daniel The Great Disappointment was a major event in the history...
- Seer stone
- Seventh-day Adventists
- Upstate New YorkUpstate New YorkUpstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
External links
- John H. Martin, Saints, Sinners and Reformers: The Burned-Over District Re-Visited, The Crooked Lake Review, Fall 2005. Book-length study in a local history quarterly.
- The “Burned-Over District, 1810-1830 Federal Census Indices”