The War of 1812

Following the surrender of the British, America became a nation of small farmers who enjoyed a certain amount of peace and prosperity, but affairs abroad involving Great Britain, France and Spain, combined with French and Indian affairs in the south and west led to a war (the War of 1812), and certain New England states ewre considering secession from the Union.  Weary from war an dthe threat of war, as well as political scandal involving national leaders nad national spiritual decline, the 1798 pastoral letter of the Presbyterian Church, distributed nationally by the  General Assembly, included this sobering assessment of the country's spiritual condition.

We perceive, with pain and fearful apprehension, a general dereliction of religious principle and practice among fellow citizens, a visible and prevailing impiety and contempt for laws and institutions of religion and on abounding infidelity which in many instances tends to Atheism itself...  The profligacy and corruption of the public morals have advanced with a progress proportionate to our declension in religion.  Profaneness, pride, luxury, injustice, intemperance, lewdness, and very species of debauchery  and loose indulgence greatly abound...

Economically, times were good for Wilmington and Delaware.  Delaware began its rise as a center of industry when a native of the state, Oliver Evans, invented the machinery for automatic flour milling in 1785.  That industry, centered in Brandywine Village, grew quickly, and added to the prosperity of Wilmington.  The first U.S. Census, in 1790, recorded a Delaware population of 59,096, of whome 46,310 were white, 3,899 were free Negroes, and 8,887 were slaves.  New Castle County's population was nearly 20,000, less than Sussex but more than Kent.

The Second Great Awakening and Hanover Church