Burned-over district

The burned-over district (also called the burned-out district) was an area of New York state that experienced a number of religious revivals during the Second Great Awakening. The area encompassed the central and western areas of the state which had seen significant levels of religious evangelism in the early 19th century.

The term came from historian and evangelist Charles Finney who wrote that the area had no "fuel" (converts) left to "burn" (be converted).

A number of religious movements can trace their origins to this area during this time; notable ones include:

• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,
• The Kingdom,
• the Churches of Christ,
• radical abolitionism,
• spiritualism,
• the Seventh-day Adventists, and
• radical feminism.

Later in the century) the Jehovah's Witnesses started in the area

John MacArthur writes in Counterfeit Revival that, since the Second Great Awakening, this part of the United States has yet to see any spiritual revival; it is generally considered secular.