late 1730s - mid-1740s THE GREAT AWAKENING.

"God was an angry judge, and humans were sinners!" he declared. He spoke with such fury and conviction that people flocked to listen. This sparked what became known as the GREAT AWAKENING in the American colonies.

GEORGE WHITEFIELD was a minister from Britain who toured the American colonies. An actor by training, he would shout the word of God, weep with sorrow, and tremble with passion as he delivered his sermons.

See Age of Enlightenment flashcards.

See Awakening (terms) flashcards.

It seemed to him that people found the pursuit of wealth to be more important than John Calvin's religious principles.

Some were even beginning to suggest that predestination was wrong and that good works might save a soul. Edwards barked out from the pulpit against these notions.

The Enlightenment

A revolution in thinking which affected ythe reading public in Europe and North America. Lead to the questioning of traditional religion, political authority, and social order.

The OLD LIGHT ministers refused to accept this new style of worship. Despite the conflict, one surprising result was greater religious toleration. With so many new denominations, it was clear that no one religion would dominate any region.

Although the Great Awakening was a reaction against the Enlightenment, it was also a long term cause of the Revolution.

George Whitefield

Credited with starting the Great Awakening, also a leader of "New Lights"

The attraction of the Awakening especially for women and blacks both slave and free (whose conversions were encouraged) also disturbed members of the elite.

Even leading New Lights condemned the emotional excesses of some of their followers, who denied the need for formal churches and whose religious experiences included extreme physical and vocal expressions.

Jonathan Edwards

He was a Connecticut clergyman who became convinced of the need for religious revival in the colonies. He was instrumental in sparking the religious movement known as "The Great Awakening."

GREAT AWAKENING. Not all American ministers were swept up by the Age of Reason. In the 1730s, a religious revival swept through the British American colonies.

JONATHAN EDWARDS, the Yale minister who refused to convert to the Church of England, became concerned that New Englanders were becoming far too concerned with worldly matters.

Large crowds gathered around charismatic ministers such as Whitefield (Anglican), Gilbert Tennent (Presbyterian), and Theodore Frelinghuysen (Dutch Reformed).

Old Light opponents, led by Charles Chauncy, claimed that their opponents were arrogant, intolerant of those without a similar experience, and wallowing in their own delusions.

Colonists flocked by the thousands to hear him speak. He converted slaves and even a few Native Americans. Even religious skeptic Benjamin Franklin emptied his coin purse after hearing him speak in Philadelphia.

Soon much of America became divided. Awakening, or NEW LIGHT, preachers set up their own schools and churches throughout the colonies. PRINCETON UNIVERSITY was one such school.

People throughout the colonies questioned the religiosity of their ministers and turned instead to evangelicals who did not confine their preaching to one congregation, or denomination, and attracted large crowds.

The Awakened "New Lights," as they were called, differed from the "Old Lights" in stressing individual and emotional experiences of the Holy Spirit rather than good behavior in a communal setting as the key to salvation.

The Great Awakening was a religious revival that began in the colonies in the late 1730s, although Jonathan Edwards had begun revivals as early as 1731 in Northampton, Massachusetts. It petered out by the mid-1740s but had long-term consequences.

The journey of preacher George Whitefield to the colonies in 1739 to obtain funds for an orphanage in Georgia was the principal catalyst for spreading the Awakening.

Before, ministers represented an upper class of sorts. Awakening ministers were not always ordained, breaking down respect for betters. The new faiths that emerged were much more democratic in their approach.

The overall message was one of greater equality. The Great Awakening was also a "national" occurrence.

Furthermore, the idea that ordinary people could choose their religion and publicly express their thoughts on it can also be seen as anticipating and influencing the desire for similar political freedoms sought during the American Revolution.

The right of individuals to decide on membership in a particular church, attend meetings by traveling preachers, and express their religious convictions openly all became more common because of the Awakening.

It was the first major event that all the colonies could share, helping to break down differences between them.

There was no such episode in England, further highlighting variances between Americans and their cousins across the sea. Indeed this religious upheaval had marked political consequences.

While the colonial-wide excitement over the Awakening disappeared with the onset of King George's War in 1744, it had lasting effects.

This conflict and the French and Indian War saw a revival of the sense of American destiny as a chosen land that the early Puritans had brought to New England.

The Great Awakening

This was a major religious revival in the colonies, which began in the 1730's with its leader being Jonathan Edwards. The primary concern was the salvation of people's souls.