Johnson is a historian and the author of The Shopkeeper’s Millennium, which he first published in 1978. Johnson’s approach is known as social history, which aims to use archival records to provide a detailed analysis of a historical period’s societal makeup—often focusing on class divisions. Johnson is a professor emeritus of history at University of Southern California, and his other books include The Kingdom of Matthias and Sam Patch, the Famous Jumper.

Finney was a prominent evangelical preacher in the 1820s and 1830s, leading a religious revival in Rochester, New York, from 1830 to 1831. Finney was first invited to preach in Rochester by the city’s minister Elder Josiah Bissell. Over the course of six months, Finney held near daily services, some of which lasted all night long. Finney’s services were notable for preaching an alternate understanding of Protestant theology. Prior to Finney, Protestant ministers taught that all individuals were predestined by God to be either evil or good. In contrast, Finney preached that all individuals held the free will to choose goodness and Christianity, and placed an emphasis on “human ability” to better the world through prayer (96).

Finney’s services also placed an emphasis on collective prayer, with “anxious sinners” often publicly announcing their acceptance of Christ (101).