in the early and mid-1800s, there was a religious movement called the second great awakening. thousands of people gathered at large religious meetings called revivals. they thought they could bring about a golden age in america through religion. new religious movements such as the holiness movement and the mormons started, and groups like the methodist church grew. the second great awakening led to two movements in reform, that is, changing laws and behaviors to make society better. one of these was the temperance movement, which believed that drinking alcohol was evil. the other was abolitionism, which tried to end slavery. people such as harriet beecher stowe and william lloyd garrison wrote books and newspapers saying that slavery should stop. they also formed political movements, which included the liberty party, the free soil party and the republican party. some abolitionists, such as frederick douglass, were former slaves. by 1820, slavery was very rare in the north, but continued in the south.