American History: The Great Awakening


Figure 1.--

The Great Awakening is sometimes glossed over in surveys of American history. It should not be. The Great Awakening was a key phenomenon in the making of the American character. Early colonial America were separate and very different colonies. The Great Awakening swept over each of the 13 English colonies. It was their first common American experience, although it occurred at different times in different places and had its own destinct character in the different colonies. The first two colonies were founded by Angicans (Jamestwown--1609) and Puritans (Plymouth--1620). This was remarkable in that from the beginning both the establishe church and one of the most steadfast dissenters were part of America. But as settlers moved west and new settlers arrived with their own religious ideas, it became impossible to direct religious life as the Anglican had done with more success in England. Neither the Puritans are the Anglicans were able to successfully transplant the parish system to control religious life on the frontier. And this proved even more difficult with the arrival of the Scotts-Irish. On the American frontier there were no neatly compact communities. Rather America became dominated by small farms and plantations populated by unrelated people of often different outlook and religious traditions. Communication was a serious problem and ecclesiastical discipline difficult if not impossible, especially as one went west. Europeans had since the Reformation (1519) been consumed with theological questions. American settlers were faced with very practival issues of building a new society and survival itself. To these practical people, theologocal debate on some times arcane issues often seemed irelevant. And a people who wrestled their farms and communuities out if virgin wildreness with little or no government support were not disposed to accept authoritarian institutions--either political or religious. Thus by the early 17th century many Americans were no members of any church and resisted efforts by authorities to impose and establoshed church. This is not to say that the colonists were not religious and they certainly were not anti-religious. They were a often very religious people, but not church members. Thus the colonists were primed for a religious experience. The Great Awakening is sometimes given shoer shrift by historians because it seems primarily a religious phenomenon. And religion was being undermined in Europe by the Enlightenment. Just the opposite occurred in America, largely the result of the Great Awakening. That experience did not just have religious connotations, but profound social and political consequences. When the Revolution came, a key factor that separated Continentals and Loyalists was often (But not always) religion. And to this date religion has a substantial impact on voting patterns in America.

Importance

The Great Awakening is sometimes glossed over in surveys of American history. This reflects the penchant in our modern secular world to gloss over or assign an aura of irrelvency to religion. The Great Awakening is sometimes given short shrift by historians because it seems primarily a religious phenomenon. It should not be. The Great Awakening was a key phenomenon in the making of the American character.

Phenomenon

Early colonial America were separate and very different colonies. The Great Awakening swept over each of the 13 English colonies. It was their first common American experience, although it occurred at different times in different places and had its own destinct character in the different colonies.

Organized Religion

The first two colonies were founded by Angicans (Jamestwown--1609) and Puritans (Plymouth--1620). This was remarkable in that from the beginning both the establishe church and one of the most steadfast dissenters were part of America. But as settlers moved west and new settlers arrived with their own religious ideas, it became impossible to direct religious life as the Anglican had done with more success in England. Neither the Puritans are the Anglicans were able to successfully transplant the parish system to control religious life on the frontier.

The Scotts Irish

And this proved even more difficult with the arrival of the Scotts-Irish.

Church Membership

On the American frontier there were no neatly compact communities. Rather America became dominated by small farms and plantations populated by unrelated people of often different outlook and religious traditions. Communication was a serious problem and ecclesiastical discipline difficult if not impossible, especially as one went west. Europeans had since the Reformation (1519) been consumed with theological questions. American settlers were faced with very practival issues of building a new society and survival itself. To these practical people, theologocal debate on some times arcane issues often seemed irelevant. And a people who wrestled their farms and communuities out if virgin wildreness with little or no government support were not disposed to accept authoritarian institutions--either political or religious. Thus by the early 17th century many Americans were no members of any church and resisted efforts by authorities to impose and establoshed church. This is not to say that the colonists were not religious and they certainly were not anti-religious. They were a often very religious people, but not church members. Thus the colonists were primed for a religious experience.

The Enlightenment

At the time of the Great Awakening in America, religion was being undermined in Europe by the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment along with the Renaisance and Reformation was a key step in the formation of the Western mind. Many of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers were French, but the Enlightenment was a movement which over time affected all of Europe to varying degrees. America was also affected by the Enlightenment, but the American exoerience was different, in part because of the Great Awakening. The Enlightenment is also termed the Age of Reason. Authors define it differently and there were many different aspects, but the Enlightenment at it heart was a basic turn in the Western mindset. The West for more than a milenium had been dominated by religion, often descrined as faith. Even the Reformation had not changed this. In fact the Protestants were often more consumed with faith and theological questions than the Roman church. With the Enlightenment, primacy was given to reason. Intelectuals began to think that objective truth about life and the universe could be achieved through rational thought. The advances achieved in physics, led by Sir Issac Newton in Britain, had a profound impact on European intellectuals. Enlightenment writers begasn to think that the same kind of systematic thinking could be used to understand and improve areas of human activity as well. A whole new system of aesthetics, ethics, government, and logic was developed based on reason. The Enligtenment was an era of great optimism. Enlightenment thinks were convinced that reason could dramatically improve society. They were not openly athiestic, but they were highly critical of religion which they often equated with irrationality and superstition. The Enlightement also attacked political tyranny. The intelectual ferment of the Enlightenment led to the American and subsequent Latin American revolutions as well as the French Revolution which had a much more pronounced impact on Europe. the Enlightenment prepared the foundation for both classical liberalism and capitalism. There were comparable movements in music (high baroque and classical) and art (neo-classical).

The Enlightenment in America

The American experience with the Enlightenment was quite different than in Europe. This was largely because of the Great Awakening. Actually The Great Awakening and Enligtenment were both highly influential in America. Enlightenment thought cerainly was a strong influence on the founding fathers abnd reflected in the majpr docu,entsd of the day (the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Yet the Great Awakening reflected a very religious and widely held train of thought in America, especially strong among the body politic at large. These two largely opising threads can be seem in Ameica today with the divide between Fundamentalists Christians and secular Americans. It is the major thread in the divide between red and blue states.

Social and Political Consequences

That experience did not just have religious connotations, but profound social and political consequences. When the Revolution came, a key factor that separated Continentals and Loyalists was often (But not always) religion. And to this date religion has a substantial impact on voting patterns in America.







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Created: 7:44 AM 6/19/2005
Last updated: 7:44 AM 6/19/2005