ABSTRACT
The earlier colonial Awakening had continued to some degree among both Baptists and Methodists. And during the 1790s, scattered revivals had appeared among Congregationalists in more remote sections of New England. Although revivals swelled membership rolls and generated enthusiasm and energy, Protestant expansion was primarily the product of missionary activity. This was the principal means employed as the frontier marched westward to the Pacific. Part of the energy generated by revivals was directed toward efforts to provide educational opportunities for females and blacks. The new missionary initiatives were a part of the settler colonialism that characterized westward expansion. The touring missionaries, whether Presbyterian, Congregational, or Baptist, functioned in much the same way as the circuit riders. The transition from conference to church was not always easy to effect, for this implied assuming responsibility for paying the preacher, and money was scarce. The Protestant churches in America were not without pressing problems of their own.
