For those seeking a precise parallel in American religious history, the most common — and convincing — analogy for the Sanders movement is to the Second Great Awakening, one of three (or perhaps four, depending on who’s counting) spiritual explosions that have periodically transformed society since the Colonial days.
The first “awakening” was a revival that began in the 1740s, fueled by the renowned traveling evangelist George Whitefield, and it stirred grass-roots believers and helped lay the groundwork for the American Revolution.
The second such awakening, the one that most brings to mind the Sanders campaign, dates from around 1800 and ran up through the middle of the 19th century.
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