Don’t Look to 1903s Germany to Understand American Populism. Look to 1830s New York Revivals Instead.

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 3 July 2025

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Something strange happened in Upstate New York during the 1830s. This area was called the "Burned-Over District" because so many fiery religious revivals swept through that it was metaphorically burned over. This region became a key source of the Second Great Awakening, a Protestant revival movement marked by emotional preaching and mass conversions, as preachers like Charles Finney inspired thousands to seek personal salvation and social reform. The revival spirit also birthed new movements: Mormonism emerged with Joseph Smith's founding of the Latter Day Saint movement in 1830, the Jehovah’s Witnesses trace their roots to the Bible Student movement that gained traction later in the century, and Spiritualism took hold in the 1840s with the Fox sisters’ claims of communicating with spirits in Hydesville, New York.

This episode, however, isn’t just about the Burned-Over District. It’s about how these revivalists tapped into a distinctly American form of power, one not built on title or lineage, but on pure, raw charisma. From Puritan prophets and prophetesses in the 1600s to big-tent revivalists in the 1800s, and even to modern self-help gurus like Tony Robbins and Oprah Winfrey, charisma has shaped influence across time. It empowers figures like presidents Donald Trump and Barack Obama to amass followings, sustain authority, and shape the national narrative through sheer personal appeal.

Today’s guest is Molly Worthen, author of Spellbound: How Charisma Shaped American History from the Puritans to Donald Trump. We explore the roots of charisma and power in American democracy, whether it’s necessarily bad or can be used for good, and how to avoid falling under the spell of a charismatic demagogue.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Scott here with another episode of the History Unplug podcast.
0:08.0	Something strange happened in upstate New York during the 1830s.
0:11.7	This area was called the Burned Over District because so many fiery religious revivals swept through that area that it was metaphorically burnt over.
0:19.8	The region became a key source of the Second
0:21.5	Great Awakening, a Protestant revival movement marked by emotional preaching and mass conversions,
0:26.9	as preachers like Charles Finney inspired thousands to seek personal salvation and social reform.
0:31.7	But the revival spirit also birthed new movements. This includes Mormonism, which emerged
0:36.6	with Joseph Smith's founding
0:37.8	in the Latter-day Saints movement in 1830, and the Jehovah's Witnesses also traced roots
0:42.3	to this time period as well. Spiritualism took hold in 1840s with the Fox Sisters claim
0:47.1	of communicating with spirits in Hydesville, New York. This episode, however, isn't just
0:51.2	about the burntover district. It's about how these revivalists tapped into a distinctly American form of power,
0:57.0	one not built on title or lineage, but on pure raw charisma.
1:02.0	This tradition starts with Puritan prophets and prophetesses in the 1600s,
1:06.2	continues onward to these Big Ten revivalists in the 1800s.
1:09.4	It goes down to modern-day self-help gurus like Oprah or Tony Robbins or Tim Ferriss. It shows how charisma is shaped influence across time. It's empowered figures like President's Donald Trump and Barack Obama to amass following, sustained authority, and shape the national narrative through sheer personal appeal. To explore the role of charisma in American history is today's guest, Molly Worthen, author
1:27.8	of Spellbound, how charisma shaped American history from the Puritans of Donald Trump. We explore
1:32.2	the roots of charisma and power in American democracy, whether it's necessarily bad or could
1:36.5	be used for good, and how to avoid falling under the spell of a charismatic demagogue. Hope we
1:41.6	enjoy this discussion. And one more thing before we get started with
1:47.3	this episode, a quick break for a word from our sponsors. It's summertime and you're probably
1:51.4	looking for a new beach read, but you hate getting sand and your paperbacker e-reader. That's one of the many
	...

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