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The development of a democratic society in the English colonies had many influences during the period 1607-1745. Two of the main influences were Enlightenment and the Great Awakening. The intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment began in Europe and the religious movement known as the Great Awakening started in the Colonies. The Enlightenment emphasized many things such as: reasoning, science, and observation. The Great Awakening, on the other hand, can be described as a recovery for religion and an attempt to turn people back to God. In the late 1600’s and early 1700’s many Europeans began to believe that the light of human reason and science could be applied to society. The Enlightenment caused people to think differently about religion which later resulted in many individuals beginning to take control of their own faith and beliefs. One of the things that the Enlightenment argued was that we (as individuals and groups) are generally good and our influences should mainly come from our environment. The Enlightenment encouraged people to construct an American government by using the individual’s inherited valuable supplies and logic. Some of the positive outcomes of the Enlightenment are the ideas that science and reason should also be able to answer any …show more content…
As the ideas of the Enlightenment began to advance, it gathered its own reaction from people and many started feeling like the topic of religion was dull. Some of the preachers felt that people needed to be concerned with their inner emotions and morals as opposed to focusing on the outward religious behavior. Just like the Enlightenment, the Great Awakening had its share of positive outcomes. For example, new churches were built to welcome the rising number of new members and encouraged many ideas of equality. Another positive outcome of the Great Awakening was the right to challenge authority, an incredible
The Great Awakening resulted in the growing of the Baptist and Presbyterian churches. In revivalist services music played a very important role in getting people to accept Jesus. Preachers used the singing of hymns, psalms, and spirituals as a form of emotionally connecting and bonding with their congregation. The results in America were astounding, at least 50,000 souls were added to the churches of New England out of a population of amazingly only 250,000 people. The Great Awakening also affected over one hundred towns in the middles states. Biblically based schools and bible based colleges also multiplied during this time.
The Enlightenment political thought helped the Glorious Revolution of 1688 in England. James II wanted to strengthen his royal power alone and weaken the militia while raising his own army. The Enlightenment helped the English opponent to come forth and overthrow their king with the help of the Prince William of Orange and his wife Mary. They then reestablished the monarchy and accepted the Parliaments Bill of Rights. With the Enlightenment period, individuals helped get their words out and they learned to questions their ideals and beliefs. With the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the individuals were able to overthrown their king and establish the representative government and that a well-regulated militia under the locals control was best for everyone. The Enlightenment political thought helped the Glorious Revolution to establish a representative government and take control on what’s best for
In the early 1700's spiritual revivalism spread rapidly through the colonies. This led to colonists changing their beliefs on religion. The great awakening was the level to which the revivalism spread through the colonists. Even with this, there was still religious revivalism in the colonies. One major reason for the Great Awakening was that it was not too long before the revolution. The great awakening is reason to believe that William G Mcloughlin's opinion and this shows that there was a cause to the American Revolution.
In the essay, “Awakening”, by author Alan Taylor describes the tradition of the Great Awakening further on the religious of process and expectations which increased high and low of the shore during the start of the middle colonies in the mid-seventeenth century. Taylor comes to an end of the evangelical revivalists wasn’t unsatisfied of the feeling that the society must be associated and layered. They defended the itinerant preachers and their followers beyond the community and partial lines. At the end of the seventeenth century, the colonies had a few spiritual toleration instead of the homeland they understood the political harmony and social order was mandatory for the religious equality. The revivalists envision a expanded society to repose upon a hope that would progress around the whole world.
Reform movements including religion, temperance, abolition, and women's rights sought to expand democratic ideals in the years 1825 to 1850. However, certain movements, such as nativism and utopias, failed to show the American emphasis on a democratic society. The reform movements were spurred by the Second Great Awakening, which began in New England in the late 1790's, and would eventually spread throughout the country. The Second Great Awakening differed from the First in that people were now believed to be able to choose whether or not to believe in God, as opposed to previous ideals based on Calvinism and predestination.
The Great Awakening brought diversity among people. “The spread of religious indifference, of deism, of denominational rivalry and of comfortable backsliding profoundly concerned many Christians.”(American Promise, p.130). Although there was difference in beliefs there was surprisingly closeness amongst all people. Economically everyone was everyone was faced with the same sort of problems. Men were worried of how to provide for their families, women were concerned with taking care of their children, and children were just that they were children. Many people during this time were burdened with poverty, hunger, insufficient amount of clothing, and no one to rely on. When the Great Awakening swept through, this changed how people viewed their situations. They were able to lose themselves in the messages that were being delivered and fellowship with people that were just like them, once again bringing the people closer together.
The Enlightenment was a spread of ideas that occurred in Europe in which people began to think about humane things and individualism. These ideas caused a reaction in the colonies that is now known as The Great Awakening. During this Great Awakening, preachers called ‘New Lights’ spread their ideas to the people, causing mass effect. This leads to the Great Awakening causing a democratic spirit to emerge among the people.
Many ideals coming out of the Great Awakening had a significant amount of influence on the political literature and rhetoric of the American Revolution. The Great Awakening was started as a resistance to the growing formality of churches in America (The Great Awakening.”). The Great Awakening is commonly known for the “emotional enthusiasm of its participants” when referring to the mass crowds and people fainting frequently from overwhelming emotions (“Lesson 1”). More importantly, the Great Awakening gave American people an identity and a unity the country never before had (“The Great Awakening.”). The Great Awakening encouraged a negative attitude against the British Crown while also creating a moral and religious framework justifying resistance.
The Enlightenment had its roots in the scientific and philosophical movements of the 17th century. It was, in large part, a rejection of the faith-based medieval world view for a way of thought based on structured inquiry and scientific understanding. It stressed individualism, and it rejected the church's control of the secular activities of men. Among the movement's luminaries were Descartes, Newton, and Locke. They, among others, stressed the individual's use of reason to explain and understand the world about himself in all of its aspects. Important principles of the Enlightenment included the use of science to examine all aspects of life (this was labeled "reason"),...
The First Great Awakening was a religious revival from the 1730s-70s, where we see an increase in the importance of Christianity, in addition to a challenge to traditional authority. One of the most important causes was known as The Enlightenment. This was a movement away from religion where individuals were becoming more encouraged to make decisions based on reason and logic rather than faith. People were starting to make decisions dependent on experiences and facts, rather than the individual beliefs of their religion. This can be credited to philosophers of that time advocating that, should people want change in their society, they should rely on education and reason to do so. John Locke, an English philosopher was one of the most well known contributors to the beginning of the Enlightenment. Before the Great Awakening, there was an increase in church absenteeism and religions piety was waning, meaning that the people were becoming less pure and less religion. In order to reverse the cause of the Enlightenment, we have people like, Jonathan Edwards, a Christian preacher, who is recognized as starting the Great Awakening, along with the simultaneous migration of German settlers who ignited a spark of Pietism in some New England states.
A Scientific Understanding of God Two eighteenth century movements, the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening, changed American colonists’ views on reason and wisdom. The Enlightenment, led by philosophers such as John Locke, emphasized abstract thought to acquire knowledge. The European and American thinkers’ research led to a greater understanding of scientific phenomena and the questioning of the government’s rule. Similar to the Enlightenment, the Great Awakening changed colonists’ mode of thought through the concentration of emotion rather than wisdom. Reverend Jonathan Edwards, a Great Awakening revivalist, emphasized seeking salvation by recognizing one’s own moral corruption and surrendering to God’s will. Although the Great Awakening challenged religious, social and political orthodoxy, the Enlightenment had a greater impact on colonial America and vastly influenced future decisions. The Great Awakening reached a large quantity of people because of the traveling orators that preached the evangelical word. Although Enlightenment learning was limited to the wealthy, educated colonists, the movement’s influence was still stronger because the well-to-do ruled the land. Enlightenment philosophers began questioning corrupt governments and the combination of church and state. John Locke claimed that because the people created a government, then civilians could change the run of the government. This belief, perhaps, was the most influential to colonial society. Educated and powerful political leaders began questioning their government under British rule, therefore, igniting dreams of independence. The Enlightenment theory added to the oppression of British rule led to a revolution. Although not as significant as the Enlightenment, the Great Awakening still had a deep impact on colonial society. Primarily, the conflict that arose between the religious revivalists and ultimately ended in a split in the evangelical group changed the face of religion in the British colonies. The New Light revivalists spawned such denominations as Baptist and Methodist, which differed in the old lights beliefs in doctrine and matters of faith. These new sects resulted in a stronger tolerance toward religious diversity. Also, because revivalists preached mainly to backcountry people who had no religious affiliation, the emphasis on emotion rather than wisdom gave less-educated people a feeling of self-worth. These new freethinking converts gained the strength to begin questioning social and political order. The movements of the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening mainly produced a new mode of thought for American colonists.
The first Great Awakening is one of the most significant religious movements in the American history that started in 1730s. To understand this, there needs to be a thorough explanation of the two main figures involved in this movement. Jonathan Edwards is the first one. He was an American preacher that worried about people who found wealth more valuable than religious beliefs. There was a new preaching style created by Edwards and other preachers, which provokes fear in hell. Edwards described hell with details and the listeners began to fear the God and his anger. Soon after Edwards spread new preaching style, George Whitefield who was an English minister came to hear Edwards preach. George Whitefield was a gifted public speaker, so he evolves
The Great Awakening swept the British American colonies in 1730-1740s. A tall and delicate pastor, Jonathan Edwards, proclaimed with a burning righteous that New Englanders were far more invested with profit matters, other than the believing in salvation of God. The colonialist started to be convinced that John Calvin’s religious principles were wrong and good work ethics were the way to “save your soul,” Edwards preaching style was soon being learned “sinners in the hands of an Angry God,” thus sparked peoples convictions and they began to hear Edwards out, which became the Great Awakening in the British American colonies. Four years later George Whitefield, a minister, would shout the name of God with such passion and eagerness that grasped
The First Great Awakening was an extremely important religious revival that moved through the American colonies. This spiritual revival took place in the American colonies around 1730 to 1760. The First Great Awakening was able to gain a lot of momentum because of the influential preaching that taught the citizens of these colonies that the only way to salvation was by accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior. Many of the colonists believed that they lived proper and just lives by attending church and doing good deeds. It was by the strong influential preaching that took place during the Great Awakening that preachers informed these believers that their works and good deeds would not save them; only salvation through
The eighteenth century was a significant time period of many changes and new ideas. These ideas were based around the discoveries of the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century. Europeans began thinking of new ways to advance society and politics. Even though this was in opposition to traditional thought and values, Europeans strived for greater glory, power, and wealth. The Enlightenment used the main ideas of rational thought, social equality, secularism, individual freedom, right to property, and human rights to open up the world to new change. Although the Enlightenment went against traditional values, the new values that came from this era impacted the world on a global scale. With the global spread of scientific ideas, new technologies, and new interests in trade, this helped the Enlightenment themes thrived.