Emmalee May
AMH 2010 Section 0710
Writing Assignment
In the novel, The Kingdom of Matthias, authors Paul E. Johnson and Sean Wilentz peruse the prominent explorations that both sexes encounter during the religious movements of the Second Great Awakening. During this radical period of change, countless individuals faced progressive transformations that significantly shaped their lives. Though many thrived from the rise of the market revolution, such as Elijah Pierson, others found themselves in pandemonium. In a time of social turmoil for some, more specifically, orphan Robert Matthews, family life, sexual identity and social class were drastically tested and altered.
The Second Great Awakening was not only a time period of religious revivalism but also a period full of economic opportunities. The opening of the Erie Canal in 1925 presented a multitude
The strange evolution of orphan Robert Matthews to so-called prophet ‘Matthias’ is eventful and ongoing. As a working class carpenter in Manhattan in the 19th century, Matthews ultimately suffered many losses due to his profound religious beliefs and inability to work among his peers. Fortunately for him, shortly after being expatriated from the working class community he briefly prospered as a country storekeeper and wed a woman with the name of Margaret. Family life during this time period was as expected; women took care of all domestic obligations while men covered financial responsibilities. Although all seemed well at this time and “there was every outward sign that John Calvin’s God had spared Robert Matthew’s soul” (Johnson and Wilentz 61), the life of Matthew’s unfolds quite differently.
An impaired reputation followed Matthews after the failure of numerous business ventures and escapades. With a new and cultivating market revolution, perils and misfortunes ensued for him and his family. The death of not one, but two of his sons eventually led their family to financial ruins and forced them to move to cheaper quarters. “He had experienced the market revolution not as a liberating triumph but as a fitful, agonizing descent into wage labor” (Johnson and Wilentz 62). The economic and social catastrophes Matthews came across during this time period induced and reconstructed his religious professions considerably.
Because the life of Matthews rapidly turned to havoc, unemployed and exceptionally unstable, he turned to religion for an answer to his chaos. “It was only by chance that he found some relief, when on an evening stroll he stumbled upon the service of an African Methodist church near his home.” (Johnson and Wilentz 63) This small endeavor marked the beginning of a horde of religious transformations. Raised as a devout Calvinist, Matthews should have been repelled by the service he had witnessed but instead was inspired. As time passed, the man had even stranger revelations and claimed, “he was, in actuality, a prophesying Hebrew.” (Johnson and Wilentz 64) Incompetent of making up his mind and naïve to the sermons of minister Edward Norris Kirk, Matthews attended services regularly until “he stopped working completely and turned to full-time evangelizing.” (Johnson and Wilentz 76)
Following a rejected application of membership to Albany’s Fourth Presbyterian Church, Matthews improvised. “Having found no place in other men’s churches, he began to invent a religion of his own.” (Johnson and Wilentz 78) Claimed insane by many, Matthews was in a trance whose vivid apparitions strongly influenced his behavior. Pouring over scripture and traveling from place to place, Matthews eventually adopted himself as Matthias, Prophet of the God of the Jews.
The continuous conversions from various types of religions played a significant role in the relationships Matthews acquired with himself and his family. This downward spiral contributed