| − | The Congregationalists set up missionary societies, to evangelize the West. Their most successful missions were in Hawaii, where they converted most of the natives. Missionaries were preachers and educators, as well as exponents of Yankee culture. Publication and education societies promoted Christian education; most notable among them was the [[American Bible Society]], founded in 1816. Social activism inspired by the revival gave rise to abolition groups as well as the [[Society for the Promotion of Temperance]], and began efforts to reform prisons and care for the handicapped and mentally ill. They believed in the perfectibility of people and were highly moralistic in their endeavors. From the 1820s through the 1860s, missionaries saw themselves simply as communicators of the gospel who had come to found native churches among the heathen. They did not see themselves as modernizers or transformers of culture; that new role came during the [[Third Great Awakening]]. The first women missionaries from America were products of the equalitarianism of the Second Great Awakening.<ref>Ann White, "Counting the Cost of Faith: America's Early Female Missionaries." ''Church History.'' Volume: 57. Issue: 1. (1988) pp 19-30 [http://www.questia.com/read/77522678?title=Counting%20the%20Cost%20of%20Faith%3a%20America's%20Early%20Female%20Missionaries online edition]</ref> | + | The Congregationalists set up missionary societies, to evangelize the West. Their most successful missions were in Hawaii, where they converted most of the natives. Missionaries were preachers and educators, as well as exponents of Yankee culture. Publication and education societies promoted Christian education; most notable among them was the American Bible Society, founded in 1816. Social activism inspired by the revival gave rise to abolition groups as well as the [[Society for the Promotion of Temperance]], and began efforts to reform prisons and care for the handicapped and mentally ill. They believed in the perfectibility of people and were highly moralistic in their endeavors. From the 1820s through the 1860s, missionaries saw themselves simply as communicators of the gospel who had come to found native churches among the heathen. They did not see themselves as modernizers or transformers of culture; that new role came during the [[Third Great Awakening]]. The first women missionaries from America were products of the equalitarianism of the Second Great Awakening.<ref>Ann White, "Counting the Cost of Faith: America's Early Female Missionaries." ''Church History.'' Volume: 57. Issue: 1. (1988) pp 19-30 [http://www.questia.com/read/77522678?title=Counting%20the%20Cost%20of%20Faith%3a%20America's%20Early%20Female%20Missionaries online edition]</ref> |