The Second Great Awakening especially appealed to women. Their greatest strides into the public arena came through their work with the many societies engaged in social reform that grew up during the Second Great Awakening. Many became missionaries and preachers, called to evangelize the nation before Christ's Second Coming. Women preached in the African Methodist Episcopal church, and many black women, such as Jarena Lee and Rebecca Cox Jackson, became itinerant preachers. In both white and black churches, however, women faced great resistance from men who believed that women should not preach the Gospel. "Why should it be forbidden for a woman to preach," asked Jarena Lee, "seeing how the savior died for a woman as well as a man?"

Read Jarena Lee's story at:
http://digilib.nypl.org/dynaweb
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