We must explore how exactly this religious revival came to be within the United States- both on its own terms and for contextualising the Irish and Scottish experience. In 1857, the United States experienced what has been termed the “Layman’s Prayer Revival” or the “Great Awakening”. According to the Revival Library, it was on 23rd of September that the influx of people to prayer meetings began. The 23rd may have only seen 6 people attend the prayer meeting on Fulton Street, but the next day, it was 20. The day after that, it was 40. And so it went on. ¹ In Kathryn Long’s 1998 book on the subject, she mentions these prayer meetings spread all through New York City and further out across the United States. ²

Kathryn Long

Kathryn’s book discusses some of the issues regarding the historical interpretation. She mentions that since the Civil War followed soon after the revival, its impact and consequences eclipsed the impact of the revival just a few years previous to this event. ³ Depending on one’s social class, gender, or area you lived in, the experiences could vary a lot. For instance, a man named Samuel Iraenaeus Prime was shocked when attending a prayer meeting where an African American woman gave a rousing address. For him, he was immersed within circles where women did not speak in mixed-sex religious settings. ⁴ One must also recognise the racial tensions that may have contributed to this as well.

Kathryn Long also wrote an article on the revival in 1994 focusing on historiography. She explains that the Calvinists were especially keen to assert themselves as the cause of this revival. ⁵ The Reformed historians of the nineteenth century had created a story that these revivals were cyclical, and primarily focused on their denominations. However, the Methodists were also surging in popularity at this time. The end of her article highlights the tens of thousands of people going towards Methodist churches, for instance. ⁶She concludes her article by discussing this phenomenon of the “Great Awakening” must be taken in light of its theological worldview, but not to necessarily redefine it. ⁷

The Irish Experience

The next place this revival primarily affected was Ireland. Andrew Holmes wrote about the history of revival across the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He discusses how Irish Presbyterians felt more drawn towards gradual increase in fervour than larger spikes in religiosity. He explains, however, that the more intense revivals in America did still influence the Irish. Holmes notes that some writers felt that an appeal to emotion was crucial, and to ignore it could be excuse to neglect evangelisation. ⁸

For Irish Presbyterians, the journey to revival had begun even before the main burst in 1859. Holmes explains that as early as the 1820s, prayer groups focused on bringing reform and revival, through prayer to the Holy Spirit or getting involved in community work. ⁹ He goes on to explain that for Presbyterians especially, encouraging revival was a protection against Catholicism. Presbyterians focused on reaching out to more open-minded Catholics following the famine, for instance. They also needed to address the many social issues of greed, neglecting the Sabbath, and other forms of ‘worldliness’. ¹⁰

Finally, onto Scotland. This historical source is a primary source- meaning directly from the time period. In the north of Scotland, there was a conference in Huntly in 1860 which involved multiple testimonies and discussions over the increasing religiosity among the locals. The report goes through a comment made by an ‘American divine’ about what causes these revivals. He said each one, even going back to Pentecost, proclaimed a particular truth. In relation to the revival of their time in 1859-60, it was the awareness of one’s own sins. ¹¹

There are a great number of cases in the report. There were two Sunday School teachers who realised their own faith was lukewarm, and repented as a result. A married couple who were very irreligious both became active in their church. ¹² A sea-captain with an alcohol problem was completely changed by his religious encounter. He was described as being a ‘changed creature’. ¹³ Finally, a young farmer’s son became a devout Christian, and gave up his habit of smoking to use the money for the church. ¹⁴ All of this shows that great effect these revivals were having on the population.

Religious Revival in Genealogy

What can we make of all of this information? We can begin with the importance in understanding the impact of religious revivals in our own family trees. As you have probably already guessed, there will be many families whose lives changed dramatically due to these revivals. To go from ‘unbelieving’ to ‘believing’ could change the course of a family’s history. This could be both a positive or negative thing, depending on one’s worldview.

For the devout Christian, their perspective is that it gives strength and piety to a family and community in great need of it. Generational problems such as alcoholism or gambling can dwindle over time. Most importantly, those people can achieve eternal salvation. This fervour unchecked can, however, lead to even more problems. For some families, the extreme and radical change in some members may have led them into particularly harsh forms of theological practice. Building upon that further, for those who are not religious especially, these revivals can be seen as indoctrinating, restricting, and leading a population into delusion.

Historiography

This leads us to the historiographical side of the conversation. Depending on which theologians or historians are in charge of creating the narrative, religious revivals have different effects across time. As Kathryn Long astutely mentioned, recognising the views of the authors is important in assessing their interpretation of events. That is not to say their information is wrong, but simply to recognise why they argue for their position. Regarding various denominations, it is crucial to accurately represent the influence and importance of different groups in order to understand how religion impacts society at large, not just your own community.

Sources

A Report of a Conference on the State of Religion and Public Meeting, held in The Free Church, Huntly, January 5, 1860 (Huntly: Simpson, Gordon Street, Huntly 1860).

Holmes, Andrew. ‘The Experience and Understanding of Religious Revival in Ulster Presbyterianism, c. 1800-1930’, Irish Historical Studies 34 (2005): 361- 385.

Long, Kathryn. ‘The Power of Interpretation: The Revival of 1857-58 and the Historiography of Revivalism in America’. Religion and American Culture: A Journal of Interpretation 4 (1994): 77-105.

Long, Kathryn. The Revival Of 1857-58 : Interpreting an American Religious Awakening (New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1998).

Revival Library. ‘1857 4th Great Awakening’. Accessed 15th July 2025. https://revival-library.org/timelines/1857-4th-great-awakening/.