Burned-over district

The burned-over district was an area of New York state that experienced a number of religious revivals during the Second Great Awakening. The area encompassed the central and western areas of the state which had seen significant levels of religious evangelism in the early 19th century. A number of religious groups were formed in this area, including the Church of Latter Day Saints, The Kingdom, radical abolitionism, spiritualism, Seventh-day Adventism, feminism and Jehovah's Witnesses. The term came from historian Charles Finney who wrote that the area had no fuel (converts) left to burn (be converted).