ABSTRACT
The Second Adventists or Millerites were very literal believers in Christ's Second Coming—on 22 October 1844. They took their conviction and popular name from a self-educated Vermont farmer, William Miller (1782— 1849) who for many years before he began to preach in 1831 had studied biblical prophecies and had become convinced that he had correctly calculated the date of the second advent. By the later 1830s he had drawn in ministers from various denominations, saw periodicals established and built a separate movement in the early 1840s based on detailed biblical scrutiny which proclaimed both Protestant and Catholic churches the Antichrist. Intense preparations for the advent produced enormous disappointment when nothing happened and ended the original Millerite movement. But it left seekers to follow other spiritual journeys in mid-century America.
