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New York's Burned-over District: A Documentary History
In New York's Burned-over District , Spencer W. McBride and Jennifer Hull Dorsey invite readers to experience the early American revivals and reform movements through the eyes of the revivalists and the reformers themselves.
Between 1790 and 1860, the mass migration of white settlers into New York State contributed to a historic Christian revival. This renewed spiritual interest and fervor occurred in particularly high concentration in central and western New York where men and women actively sought spiritual awakening and new religious affiliation. Contemporary observers referred to the region as "burnt" or "infected" with religious enthusiasm; historians now refer to as the Burned-over District.
New York's Burned-over District highlights how Christian revivalism transformed the region into a critical hub of social reform in nineteenth-century America. An invaluable compendium of primary sources, this anthology revises standard interpretations of the Burned-over District and shows how the putative grassroots movements of the era were often coordinated and regulated by established religious leaders.
Between 1790 and 1860, the mass migration of white settlers into New York State contributed to a historic Christian revival. This renewed spiritual interest and fervor occurred in particularly high concentration in central and western New York where men and women actively sought spiritual awakening and new religious affiliation. Contemporary observers referred to the region as "burnt" or "infected" with religious enthusiasm; historians now refer to as the Burned-over District.
New York's Burned-over District highlights how Christian revivalism transformed the region into a critical hub of social reform in nineteenth-century America. An invaluable compendium of primary sources, this anthology revises standard interpretations of the Burned-over District and shows how the putative grassroots movements of the era were often coordinated and regulated by established religious leaders.
- GenresHistory
420 pages, Hardcover
Published August 15, 2023
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August 16, 2025
BOOK REVIEW - New York's Burned-over District, A Documentary History,
by Spencer W. McBride and Jennifer Hull Dorsey (08.16.25)
Having lived and traveled extensive in the “Burned-over District” for nearly 40 years I am quite familiar with many of the characters of the time, the geography, and the movements that emerged. Although highly academic and more of a resource, cataloguing the characters and movements of the era, it is a window into one of the most spiritually and socially dynamic regions of 19th-century America. The volume is primarily a catalogue of original documents—sermons, pamphlets, letters, and newspaper excerpts—that together sketch the religious and reformist fervor of upstate New York during the early to mid-1800s. While the book is more of a resource for scholars and students than a narrative history, it nonetheless succeeds in capturing the diversity and intensity of the movements that made the “burned-over district” such a fertile ground for change.
Rather than offering deep interpretive analysis, the editors allow the historical actors to speak for themselves. This approach can feel dry at times, especially for readers seeking explanations of why this region became such a crucible for reform. We encounter preachers, reformers, skeptics, and believers in their own words, giving us a sense of how radical and bewildering this period must have felt to those who lived through it.
Among the more unusual movements and figures documented are the Millerites, who predicted the Second Coming of Christ in 1844 only to experience the “Great Disappointment” when it failed to occur; the Shakers, with their celibate communal lifestyle and ecstatic worship; and the Fox sisters, whose supposed communication with spirits in the 1840s sparked the rise of modern Spiritualism.
The free love movement in the Burned-over District was one of the most radical and controversial expressions of the era’s spirit of experimentation. Rooted in both religious idealism and social reform, its advocates argued that marriage should be founded on mutual affection rather than legal contracts or church authority, and that individuals should have the freedom to dissolve unions that no longer reflected genuine love. The most famous example was John Humphrey Noyes and the Oneida Community, which practiced “complex marriage”—a system in which all members were considered spiritually united, rejecting exclusive pairings and traditional family structures. While critics denounced the practice as immoral and dangerous to social order, Noyes and his followers saw it as a higher form of Christian living, one that transcended selfish attachment and reflected divine love. The movement never gained mainstream acceptance, but it highlighted the willingness of reformers in upstate New York to challenge even the most sacred social institutions in their pursuit of a more perfect society.
Alongside these fringe or innovative groups, the book also highlights more mainstream reform efforts: abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass, temperance advocates, women’s rights leaders like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and revivalist preachers such as Charles Finney, whose powerful sermons epitomized the evangelical zeal of the era.
The Latter-day Saint (LDS) movement also emerged out of the religious ferment of the Burned-over District, leaving one of its most enduring legacies. Including my own ancestors in Mendon, NY. The movement attracted both devoted converts and fierce opposition. Yet despite persecution and eventual expulsion from New York, the LDS Church would grow into a global faith. Its origins in the Burned-over District underscore the remarkable openness of the region to spiritual innovation and the deep hunger among its inhabitants for religious renewal that went beyond established denominations.
Because the editors refrain from sustained interpretation, readers must draw many of these connections themselves. For some, that will be a limitation; for others, it will be the book’s strength. The greatest value of this work is in making accessible the raw material of history.
Quotes:
“Our land has been full of rumblings, like the mutterings of distant thunder, betokening the near approach of a tempest; and at length the storm has burst, and it rages with unmitigated fury. There is a moral earthquake: old foundations are broken up, ancient opinions totter to their fall, and society is heaving with the throes of a mighty revolution.”
“This region has been, and must continue to be, the great testing ground of faith and conscience. Here the gospel has been proclaimed with consuming fire, here the bonds of the oppressed have been weighed in the balance, here the daughters of Eve have lifted up their voices for justice, and here also have arisen prophets proclaiming both truth and delusion. If we would understand the soul of America, we must listen to the voices that echo across these valleys and hills.”
by Spencer W. McBride and Jennifer Hull Dorsey (08.16.25)
Having lived and traveled extensive in the “Burned-over District” for nearly 40 years I am quite familiar with many of the characters of the time, the geography, and the movements that emerged. Although highly academic and more of a resource, cataloguing the characters and movements of the era, it is a window into one of the most spiritually and socially dynamic regions of 19th-century America. The volume is primarily a catalogue of original documents—sermons, pamphlets, letters, and newspaper excerpts—that together sketch the religious and reformist fervor of upstate New York during the early to mid-1800s. While the book is more of a resource for scholars and students than a narrative history, it nonetheless succeeds in capturing the diversity and intensity of the movements that made the “burned-over district” such a fertile ground for change.
Rather than offering deep interpretive analysis, the editors allow the historical actors to speak for themselves. This approach can feel dry at times, especially for readers seeking explanations of why this region became such a crucible for reform. We encounter preachers, reformers, skeptics, and believers in their own words, giving us a sense of how radical and bewildering this period must have felt to those who lived through it.
Among the more unusual movements and figures documented are the Millerites, who predicted the Second Coming of Christ in 1844 only to experience the “Great Disappointment” when it failed to occur; the Shakers, with their celibate communal lifestyle and ecstatic worship; and the Fox sisters, whose supposed communication with spirits in the 1840s sparked the rise of modern Spiritualism.
The free love movement in the Burned-over District was one of the most radical and controversial expressions of the era’s spirit of experimentation. Rooted in both religious idealism and social reform, its advocates argued that marriage should be founded on mutual affection rather than legal contracts or church authority, and that individuals should have the freedom to dissolve unions that no longer reflected genuine love. The most famous example was John Humphrey Noyes and the Oneida Community, which practiced “complex marriage”—a system in which all members were considered spiritually united, rejecting exclusive pairings and traditional family structures. While critics denounced the practice as immoral and dangerous to social order, Noyes and his followers saw it as a higher form of Christian living, one that transcended selfish attachment and reflected divine love. The movement never gained mainstream acceptance, but it highlighted the willingness of reformers in upstate New York to challenge even the most sacred social institutions in their pursuit of a more perfect society.
Alongside these fringe or innovative groups, the book also highlights more mainstream reform efforts: abolitionists such as Frederick Douglass, temperance advocates, women’s rights leaders like Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and revivalist preachers such as Charles Finney, whose powerful sermons epitomized the evangelical zeal of the era.
The Latter-day Saint (LDS) movement also emerged out of the religious ferment of the Burned-over District, leaving one of its most enduring legacies. Including my own ancestors in Mendon, NY. The movement attracted both devoted converts and fierce opposition. Yet despite persecution and eventual expulsion from New York, the LDS Church would grow into a global faith. Its origins in the Burned-over District underscore the remarkable openness of the region to spiritual innovation and the deep hunger among its inhabitants for religious renewal that went beyond established denominations.
Because the editors refrain from sustained interpretation, readers must draw many of these connections themselves. For some, that will be a limitation; for others, it will be the book’s strength. The greatest value of this work is in making accessible the raw material of history.
Quotes:
“Our land has been full of rumblings, like the mutterings of distant thunder, betokening the near approach of a tempest; and at length the storm has burst, and it rages with unmitigated fury. There is a moral earthquake: old foundations are broken up, ancient opinions totter to their fall, and society is heaving with the throes of a mighty revolution.”
“This region has been, and must continue to be, the great testing ground of faith and conscience. Here the gospel has been proclaimed with consuming fire, here the bonds of the oppressed have been weighed in the balance, here the daughters of Eve have lifted up their voices for justice, and here also have arisen prophets proclaiming both truth and delusion. If we would understand the soul of America, we must listen to the voices that echo across these valleys and hills.”
June 22, 2024
A lot of fascinating tidbits from one of my favorite historical eras. Great book!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews