Shaker Gift and Shaker Order: A Study of Religious Tension in Nineteenth-Century America

ESSAY IS the outburst of spiritualistic activity within the United Society of Believers beginning in 1837 and extending for more than a decade.This episode has been called "Mother Ann's Work," the "Era of Manifestations/' and the period of revival.The historiographical traditions concerning this era will not be rehearsed here except to say that, in general, during the nineteenth century the period was viewed by many outsiders with a certain curiosity and disdain, but by most insiders with wonder, amazement, and a sense of awe.During the past several decades both insiders and outsiders have come to accept the depiction of Edward Deming Andrews, the leading authority on the Shakers after the mid-twentieth century.Andrews interpreted these manifestations as an effective response to problems facing the society in 1837 and the means for restoring unity to the Shaker order.He accented the centripetal dimensions of the period.My reading of the situation is substantially different. 1