Imagine attending a crowded meeting with hundreds of enthralled listeners. An emotional orator tries to persuade you to support his social cause, join his church, or political party. During the early 1800s many Vermonters attended such meetings and made major life altering decisions at them. Consider the following questions:

What causes would you have supported?

What religion would you choose?

What political party?

Would you be an abolitionist?

How would you have felt about the Masons?

Would you stay in Vermont or go west to follow a cause or religious leader?

Would you follow the traditional path of your family or try something new?

Look around the tent and learn the choices Vermonters made. These decisions became lifelong commitments for some, and for others they were as fleeting and temporary as the revival tent.

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