The Great Awakening

[Al Kufr]

Ive read a little about the Great Awakening and my question is does anybody know why it happend, what were people awakening from? Did it happen becuase religion was loosing its infleunce becuase of the enlightment?Or were there other factors?

Does anybody have any good sources on the event? Most of the sites I find seem to be from a Christian fundamentalist perspective.

[AmbivalentEye]

Ive read a little about the Great Awakening and my question is does anybody know why it happend, what were people awakening from? Did it happen becuase religion was loosing its infleunce becuase of the enlightment?Or were there other factors?

Does anybody have any good sources on the event? Most of the sites I find seem to be from a Christian fundamentalist perspective.

You're lucky I'm currently studying this in class.

Keep in mind that the Great Awakening was also known as the Great Revival

The Following are some things I've put together for school.

The Great Awakening

· Arminianism opposition began in Northampton, Massachusetts by cause of Reverend Jonathan Edwards.

· Congregations began accepting memberships without evidence of a conversion experience and adopted a seating plan that places wealthy church families front and center.

· Church Youth started skipping mass and other religious gatherings.

· Reverend Edwards wanted to bring the youth back to the church.

à His sermons appealed to people’s emotions and the growing religious fervor caused church memberships to rise.

· The people of many colonies sought out preachers with more emotive or moving sermons.

· The local revivals became intercolonial once Anglican Minister, George Whitefield made a tour of the colonies in 1738.

· The Great Revival was seen as the second phase of the Protestant Reformation.

· Pennsylvania

à William Tennent and son Gilbert

§ Preacher with a school that trained men for ministry.

Ø Later became Princeton University founded 1746

“Among Presbyterians, open conflict broke out between the revivalists and the old guard, and in some regions, the church divided into separate organizations.”

· New England

à New Lights and Old Lights accused one another of heresy and called for the revival of Calvinism.

· The South

à Started in the 1740’s with Scots-Irish Presbyterians, and had full impact in 1760’s and 1770’s with Methodists and Baptists.

§ Introduced slaves to Christianity for the first time.

à Baptist churches started having sporadic preachings from blacks and whites, slaves and masters.

· Revival had its deepest effect in young people

Great Awakening Politics

· Old Lights passed laws to suppress the revival.

· Separatists refused to pay taxes.

· New Lights were denied seats in Assembly.

· 1760’s: Connecticut New Lights organized themselves politically and mounted a rebellion that turned the Old Lights out of office.

à This sparked the necessary leadership for the American Revolution in Connecticut.

The Great Revival

1. Because the Enlightenment ideals supported the analysis of your own choices and principles, members of the congregation began another wave of Protestant Reform that resulted in the Revival.

2. The Great Awakening was most accepted by the youth of the communities’ poorer families whose complicated and somewhat dysfunctional lives gave them the inclination to seek religious refuge and “salvation”.

3. George Whitefield was an Anglican minister that made an evangelical tour of the colonies in 1738 to increase the church memberships. His speeches were said to be very powerful and moving to all his audiences.

4. With the Great Awakening, established churches were suddenly faced with members who sought reform and more emotive sermons. These revolts resulted in the attack or dismissal of many ministers and the division of the upper Congregationalist clergy.

5. The Great Awakening was seen as the first “national” event in American history because it involved solely the Protestant groups established here in North America and dealt solely with issues within, rather than from Europe.

6. Yes, the Great Awakening significantly affected the South because it was the first time that slaves were admitted openly into Christianity, and in fact the effect was so powerful that in some communities, black slaves would preach with as much leisure as white masters would.

Great Awakening Politics

1. Some possible political implications of the great awakening that historians suggest are the fact that it provided the politicians that would lead the American revolution in colonies like Connecticut, it gave normal people the opportunity to participate in public debate and public action that affected the direction of their lives. It gave ordinary people the power and the courage to question their leaders.