Great Awakenings

Mark Negus
Great Awakenings
U.S. History
Due. 9/20/20

A) Colonial America in the 1730s was tumultuous. King George I died in 1727{7} and his

successor, King George II adopted his father’s philosophy of “quieta non movere”: “Do

not move settled things” in regards to the American colonies{2}. In 1730, the colonies

had a burgeoning {18} population of roughly 630,000{5} with a huge percentage​1​ of

those being Anglo{5,6} colonists and 14% being Black {5}. Different religious sects

included Quakers, Anglicans, Lutherans, Baptists, and Presbyterians{11}. However,

many religious groups were finding their spiritual lives dry and unsatisfying. Amidst this

turmoil, Jonathan Edwards, a congregationalist minister from Yale, went out in 1731 into

Massachusetts preaching ardent sermons condemning sinful behavior{3}. In addition to

Edwards, an Anglican preacher named George Whitefield also began to preach a

Calvinist (a sect of Christianity which believes everyone is predestined) revivalist

movement with great success{1}. Lastly another influential figure, Gilbert Tennet, a

presbyterian preacher, spread his lively message in New Jersey{3}. These preachers

and many others ignited a religious reformation that centered around the ideas of:

personal devotion and faith, all people are sinners, forgiveness is needed, and finding

salvation or “New birth” in an emotional connection with God{14}. This movement

1
The census did not record nationality until 1790. Data from source 6 strongly suggests that a large percentage of

the population was Anglo.

further divided a country that already struggled with its identity. Now, there were “New

Lights” and “Old lights”, those who embraced this new way of spirituality and those who

held a traditional stance {22}. The momentum from this trend carried over for years to

come and led to more “Awakenings” and eventually contributed fuel leading up to the

Revolutionary war. These colonies did something extraordinary for their time, they

changed the ways of Christianity (something established and revered for thousands of

years) and given themselves more freedom in a major area of their lives; now the British

stood in the way of further expansion.

B) The Great Awakening was a response to the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was

novel and shook the core of what many believed. The ideals of the Enlightenment

centered around reason and logic above emotion and instinct{4/23}. Although ​true

Christian ideology and belief embraces science and reason, many of the Christians of

the time sought only a “religious experience”, not an actual Christianity, and contrary to

the actual principles of their supposed “faith” they thought that the Enlightenment

attacked said position {15/16}. At first glance it might not appear that the Enlightenment

(something that is associated mainly with politics) would affect religion, however, the

Enlightenment preached reason and logic, things that canopy everything pertaining to

morality, including religion. Hence, the Enlightenment had the effect of largely

undermining the weak religious foundations of the colonies.

C) The Great Awakening laid the foundation for how religion looks today. Before this

movement, religion was something that was usually done without emotion and with a
large group. The only religious authority were the ordained, and the common people

knew very little. However, post-awakening religion entailed that everyone could have

religious knowledge and study. Prayer was now meant to be an emotional, from the

heart ordeal that one could do by themselves{3}. Even some actual theology was

changed as a result of the influx of thinkers coming to the church{21}.​ ​Even today the

many of the traditions and styles that were prevalent for thousands of years have since

diminished since the Great Awakening.

D) Beginning in the early 1800s and ending around 70 years later, the second Great

Awakening was influential in a different ways. This new movement, like its predecessor,

focused largely on personal conviction of sin, but unlike the latter, it gave up Calvinism

for Arminianism, the idea that everyone can be saved. It also still retained the previous

movement’s way of emotional and fervored prayer as well as evangelism. One way this

was done was through camps. Thousands would gather and camp for multiple days;

worshiping, listening to sermons, and singing{19}. In addition, the second Great

Awakening also pushed for many social movements, including prohibition, women’s

rights, and abolition{12/20}.

E) The third awakening began at the time the second was ushered out and lasted until

the 1930s. This last (or arguably second to last{8/9}) awakening shifted focus once

more, this time to social justice{10}. Social institutions like the YMCA and many, many

other charitable and Christian organizations popped up and grew. Political theology {10}

was now increasing. Many ideals of the previous awakenings remained intact (including
additions like the idea of the “Baptism of the Spirit”{13}), but the overall direction of

progressive religion turned back in many ways towards social morality.

Works Cited
1.(n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2020, from
https://web-clear.unt.edu/course_projects/HIST2610/content/01_Unit_One/04_lesson_four
/09_great_awakening.htm

2.Bamford, G. M. (1905, June 5). Lord North's Attitude Towards the American
Colonies. Retrieved September 18, 20, from
https://kuscholarworks.ku.edu/bitstream/1808/8263/1/ETD_1905_Bamford_GM_m
ediumc.pdf
 3.BRIA 20 4 a Jonathan Edwards and the Great Awakening in Colonial America. (n.d.).
Retrieved September 18, 2020, from
https://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-20-4-a-jonathan-edwards-and-the-great-
awakening-in-colonial-america

4.Bristow, W. (2017, August 29). Enlightenment. Retrieved September 18, 2020,

from ​https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/enlightenment/

5.Colonial and pre-Federal Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2020, from
https://www2.census.gov/prod2/statcomp/documents/CT1970p2-13.pdf

6.The Colonial Era Timeline. (n.d.). Retrieved September 18, 2020, from
https://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/era.cfm?eraID=2

7.Contributed by R. S. Taylor Stoermer. (n.d.). George I. Retrieved September

18, 2020, from https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/George_I_1660-1727

8.Fogel, R. W. (1995, January 7). The Fourth Great Awakening and the
PoliticalRealignment of the 1990s. Retrieved September 20, 2020, from
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3008&context=byusq

9.Fogel, R. W. (n.d.). The Phases of the Four Great Awakenings. Retrieved

September 20, 2020, from ​https://press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/256626.html

10.Harder, J. D. (2014, April). Heal Their Land": Evangelical Political Theology From the Great
Awakening to the Moral Majority. Retrieved September 20, 2020, from
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1067&context=historydiss

11.History.com Editors. (2018, March 07). Great Awakening. Retrieved

September 18, 2020, from
https://www.history.com/topics/british-history/great-awakening

12.Irish, K. (2018, May). The Second Great Awakening and the Making ofModern
America. Retrieved September 20, 2020, from
https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1077&context=hist_fac

13.Jones, C. E. (1974, January 01). Perfectionist persuasion : The holiness

movement and American Methodism, 1867-1936 : Jones, Charles Edwin, 1932.
Retrieved September 20, 2020, from
https://archive.org/details/perfectionistper0000jone/page/1/mode/2up

14.Kidd, C. (n.d.). The Great Awakening in Virginia. Retrieved September 18, 2020, from
https://www.encyclopediavirginia.org/great_awakening_in_virginia_the
 15.September 19, 2020, from
https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1537&context=theo
_fac

16.Mccool, G. (2000). “The Christian Wisdom Tradition and Enlightenment Reason”.

Retrieved September 19, 2020, from
https://www.bc.edu/content/dam/files/offices/mission/pdf1/cu6.pdf

17.Quirion, K. R. (2016, June). The First Great Awakening: Revival and the Birth
of a Nation. Retrieved September 19, 2020, from
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=ljh

18.Rosenbloom, J. L. (2018, February 27). The Colonial American Economy. Retrieved

September 18, 20, from
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1039&context=econ_workingpapers

19.Scott, D. (n.d.). Evangelicalism, Revivalism, and the Second Great

Awakening. Retrieved September 19, 2020, from
http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/nineteen/nkeyinfo/nevanrev.htm

20.Second Great Awakening. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2020, from

http://ohiohistorycentral.org/w/Second_Great_Awakening

21.The Second Great Awakening. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2020, from
https://www.ncpedia.org/anchor/second-great-awakening

22.University, R., History, O., & OpenStaxCollege. (2014, May 07). Great Awakening and
Enlightenment. Retrieved September 18, 2020, from
http://pressbooks-dev.oer.hawaii.edu/ushistory/chapter/great-awakening-and-enlightenment/

23.Yacouba, C. (2016, September 14). Critique of John Locke Objection to the

Innate Ideas. Retrieved September 18, 2020, from https://m.scirp.org/papers/70597