Author ORCID Identifier
Douglas Winiarski: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1847-1158
Document Type
Book Chapter
ISBN
9781685752330
Publication Date
2026
Publisher Statement
The Shakers were established during the eighteenth century by Ann Lee, an obscure English mystic and millworker who emigrated to the British North American colonies in 1774 with a handful of followers. Over the next seven decades, Shaker conversions grew exponentially, their numbers swelled by come- outer evangelicals like Bathrick during the period of sporadic revivalism known as the Second Great Awakening. The Shakers developed a complex theology that recast the movement’s founder as Mother Ann, the second coming of the Spirit of Christ in female form. “Believers,” as they styled themselves, consecrated their property to the society when they confessed their sins and converted.3 Dissolving their marriages, they agreed to live out the rest of their lives in tightly organized villages of celibate brethren and sisters. In worship, Shakers traded the traditional liturgies and sacraments of Protestant Christianity for elaborately choreographed dancing in which they labored with their bodies to shake off sin.
Recommended Citation
Winiarski, Douglas L. Shakers at the Center: Manifesting Spirits & Spectacles in Nineteenth-Century America. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 2026. https://muse.jhu.edu/book/149191.
