The Benevolent Empire is a term used to describe the network of

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

reform societies that were prominent in the United States between 1815 and 1861. These organizations existed to spread Christianity and promote

social reform A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary move ...

History

The Benevolent Empire was dedicated to various causes, including

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

and

abolition Abolition refers to the act of putting an end to something by law, and may refer to: * Abolitionism, abolition of slavery * Abolition of the death penalty, also called capital punishment * Abolition of monarchy *Abolition of nuclear weapons *Abol ...

. There were efforts to reform bankruptcy laws, the prison system, insane asylums, and labor laws. Educational reform was also a priority; reformers wanted to end

school corporal punishment School corporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of physical pain as a response to undesired behavior by students. The term corporal punishment derives from the Latin word for the "body", . In schools it may involve striking the student on ...

and provide teachers with better training and better curriculum. Voluntary societies were also created to suppress immoral behaviors such as

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...

and

dueling A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the rapier and la ...

. They pushed for

Blue law Blue laws, also known as Sunday laws, Sunday trade laws and Sunday closing laws, are laws restricting or banning certain activities on specified days, usually Sundays in the western world. The laws were adopted originally for religious reasons ...

s in order to stop non-religious activities on Sundays. Other societies existed to help women trapped in prostitution. Societies built orphanages and provided job placement and child care programs to the urban poor. The Benevolent Empire was inspired by the

revivalism Revivalism may refer to: * Christian revival, increased spiritual interest or renewal in the life of a church congregation or society, with a local, national or global effect * Revivalism (architecture), the use of visual styles that consciously ...

of the

Second Great Awakening The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival during the early 19th century in the United States. The Second Great Awakening, which spread religion through revivals and emotional preaching, sparked a number of reform movements. R ...

.. For

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

Christians, participation in benevolent societies was a way to pursue disinterested benevolence—the idea that true Christians give up self-love in favor of loving others. The belief in perfectionism also promoted the creation of reform organizations. Perfectionism is the belief that Christians can attain a higher level of

sanctification Sanctification (or in its verb form, sanctify) literally means "to set apart for special use or purpose", that is, to make holy or sacred (compare la, sanctus). Therefore, sanctification refers to the state or process of being set apart, i.e. " ...

or holiness by devoting themselves completely to loving God and their neighbors. Another belief encouraging benevolent societies was

Postmillennialism In Christian eschatology (end-times theology), postmillennialism, or postmillenarianism, is an interpretation of chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation which sees Christ's second coming as occurring ''after'' (Latin ''post-'') the "Millennium", ...

—the belief that Christ's return would take place after the world had enjoyed a thousand years of peace (the

Millennium A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...

). Ministers taught that Christians had a responsibility to improve the world to prepare it for Christ's return. The benevolent societies were voluntary organizations and officially

interdenominational Interdenominationalism is an evangelical Protestant movement of cooperation among various Christian denominations. History The movement has its origins in the founding of the London Missionary Society, a missionary society, in 1795 by variou ...

. In practice, however, these societies were mainly led, staffed and funded by

Congregationalists Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

of the Hopkinsian school,

New School Presbyterians New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

and

evangelical Episcopalian Evangelical Anglicanism or evangelical Episcopalianism is a tradition or church party within Anglicanism that shares affinity with broader evangelicalism. Evangelical Anglicans share with other evangelicals the attributes of "conversionism, a ...

s. These societies were organized with a board of directors (typically headquartered in New York) that provided national leadership and various auxiliary societies spread throughout the country. The auxiliaries collected money and distributed the works of the society. The boards of directors for the different societies often overlapped and held their annual meetings in May. Examples of societies within the Benevolent Empire include: *

American Bible Society American Bible Society is a U.S.-based Christian nonprofit headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As the American member organization of United Bible Societies, it supports global Bible translation, production, distribution, literacy, engage ...

* American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions *

American Home Missionary Society The American Home Missionary Society (AHMS or A. H. M. Society) was a Protestant missionary society in the United States founded in 1826. It was founded as a merger of the United Domestic Missionary Society with state missionary societies from ...

American Sunday School Union InFaith has its roots in the First Day Society (founded 1790). InFaith officially formed in 1817 as the “Sunday and Adult School Union.” In 1824, the organization changed its name to American Sunday School Union (ASSU). Then, in 1974, the ASSU ...

* American Temperance Society * American Tract Society

History

References

Further reading