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 not good for society. the other was abolitionism, which wanted to end slavery. people such as harriet beecher stowe and william lloyd garrison wrote books and newspapers about how slavery should stop. they formed political movements, including the liberty party, the free soil party and the republican party (united states).