I found a copy of this book in a stack of used books that my wife had gotten from one of the 8,420,972 used book sales we attend yearly. (A light exaggeration, but we do love books. We even read them now and then!)
The “Burned Over District” was a name referring to Central and Western New York and it refers to the religious fervor and poitical zeal which swept over the area “like burning flames” during the first half of the 19th Century.
This is where the Mormons got their start, as well as the utopian, free-love socialists of the Oneida Community.
Say what you will about the relative merits or demerits of any of the movements that found fertile soil in this land, to me it is proof that my part of New York State was the “Land of Fruits and Nuts” long before California ever became a state. No offense was intended by that sentence (I’m a Catholic, which is admittedly a weird religion by most human standards), as there has got to be something positive about a place, be it early 19th Century western NY or 20th Century California, that can foster such diversity.
“Burned-over District was a name applied to a small region, during a limited period of history, to indicate a particular phase of development. It described the religious character of western New York during the first half of the nineteenth century. Time, subject, and area have thus all combined to confine the scope of this book. The study has nevertheless seemed rewarding, mainly because its implications transcend all three limitations. The meaning expands in a geographical sense because this one area provides a case history in the westward transit of New England culture. Likewise, it is representative as a sample of the change from youth to maturity in a single section affected by continuing westward movement. The subject of religion has broader significance in this period and locality than might at first appear. This section was the storm center, and religious forces were the driving propellants of social movements important for the whole country in that generation. As far as time goes, this book is an illustration of the way in which the minds of one era help to form the destinies of succeeding generations. Neither the causes of the Civil War nor the origins of national prohibition, to cite only two prominent examples, can be thoroughly understood without reference to the Burned-over District.” from the Preface”
Source: The Burned-over District: The Social and Intellectual History of … – Whitney R. Cross – Google Books
A local blogger has musch to say about the BOD (this is a link to his BOD post category): Burned-Over District Observer
More info here: Burned-over District at the Rochester Wiki
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