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“Evangelical Empire: Hartford’s Religious Book Publishing Industry, 1795-1835″

William Hosley

The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival in the United States from about 1795 to 1835, increasing membership and stimulating several social and moral reforms, including temperance, the emancipation of women, and anti-slavery. The “evangelical empire,” so-called, was centered in Hartford through the Connecticut Missionary Society and other sundry tract producers. Religious book publishing earned Hartford prominence in the rapidly evolving publishing industry. Mark Twain was attracted to Hartford because of the publishing industry, and each of the individuals featured in the coming lectures – Pennington, Plato, and Mars – published books in Hartford.