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The impact of the second great awakening
The impact of the second great awakening
The impact of the second great awakening
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As America distanced itself from Great Britain's government, it attempted to create a more democratic society. America succeeded in religious democracy, giving people the chance to choose if they wanted to go to church, and which church they would go to. Also, American society was able to increase political democracy, by giving the less wealthy places in office. Unfortunately, economic democracy worsened, as the rich just became richer, and a lot of people didn't even own land. Social democracy also declined, because the rich still had most of the power in congress. Obviously, from the 1750s to the 1780s, while America improved in some respects, overall it became a less democratic country.
During the later 1700s, America experienced a period of spiritual resurgence, referred to as the Great Awakening. During this time, religious democracy was at an all time high, because not only could people choose to go to church, they could choose which church to go to. As seen in Document I, religion was divided into two groups of people, the new lights, represented in this document by Rev. Ebenezer Frothingham, and the old lights, represented in this document by Rev. James Lockwood. The new lights were people who felt that religion needed to change with the times, and were very lenient on allowing people in their congregation, coming to church regularly, etc. The old lights, on the other hand, felt that people needed to hang on to the old order. Unfortunately for the old lights, the law was in favor of changing religion as well. As seen in Document K, the law allowed people to stay home on the Sabbath and not be punished by the law. Also seen is the law that refused ministers the right to be exempted out of poll taxes and assessable estates, changing a law that was in favor for ministers that supported the old lights, like Lockwood. As you can see, religious democracy had some radical changes over a thirty-year period time, and definitely improved for the better of America.
Another positive change occurred for political democracy during the 1750s and on until the 1780s. By giving the less wealthy a greater percentage in office, as well as having more people voting and elected to office, political democracy during this time period had an extremely positive effect on American democracy as a whole. In Document H, one can see that in twenty years, the percentage of the richest people in Wethersfield holding offices went down by almost twenty percent, while people in the bottom half of the social structure holding offices increased by more than ten percent.
When the fundamentalist revolt began in the 1920s Protestants pushed their beliefs to the extreme. They wanted all members of society to stop bringing these new modern ideas in, and for all old morals from the Bible to be expressed throughout all aspects of society. By doing so this enhanced religion extremely. Since religion was the newest talk in the town things such as
This event changed the role of American religion during the early nineteenth century. Non-traditional religions such as Mormonism resulted from this religious revival movement as well. The religious revivals that emphasized individual choice of humans over predestination of God continuously shook New England Calvinism. The “cult of Matthias” was unlike any other religious groups during the time period.
By 1763, although some colonies still maintained established churches, other colonies had accomplished a virtual revolution for religious toleration and separation of church and state. The Anglican Church was the only established denomination in England. In contrast, the colonies supported a great variety of churches. The largest were the Congregationalist, Anglican, and German churches, but many smaller denominations could be found through the colonies. In addition to this, a high percentage of Americans didn’t belong to any church. These differences could be attributed to the fact that many of the Europeans who immigrated to America didn’t fit in to or agree with the churches in their homelands.
When it came down to the government during the convention of May 1776, instead of protecting our rights they had passed them down causing us to be under common law. If one had denied the Christian faith and went against everything it believed in, such as, “there are more Gods than one, or denies the Christian religion to be true, or the scriptures to be of divine authority, he is punishable on the first offence by incapacity to hold any office or employment ecclesiastical, civil, or military,” (Jefferson 176). This is what most people had thought about if you did not follow their religion. Thomas Jefferson believed that the wall between church and state should be very high in order to keep out and prevent hostile situations. Using an example from today’s news, many people get uncomfortable in the United Stated with the Muslim religion because of the previous horrific events that led to many cruel deaths in our history. By this, the way that we look at these people is forever changed because of the incidents and who knows if we will ever not be hostile with one another because of it. If church and state hadn’t been separated we may have not become a true democracy from what our developing country was seeming to lead towards. More people would not be as accepting of each other, and not that they are still not today, but I feel as if it may
Religion was a key component to the construction of the early American colonial society. It shaped the beliefs and actions of the settlers within the society in many ways. Originally, the newcomers settling on North American land had main motives of owning their own land, increasing their country’s empire and gaining personal profit. Alongside those motives came the sheer desire to spread their religion with whom they encountered in the new land of opportunity. As stated, settlers set out to convert others towards Christianity because they believed freedom was found in worshiping God. Socially, if a person identified as a Christian they automatically were placed higher on the hierarchy. In the same respect, religion and politics at this time were delicately intertwined. Being Christian also meant the government heavily favored you and your peoples since you were to be considered influential in society. In the Maryland Act Concerning Religion (1644), John Winthrop’s Speech to the Massachusetts General Court (1645), the Trial of Anne Hutchinson (1637) and Roger Williams Letter to the Town of Providence (1655) one can notice the striking role religion plays both socially and
The First Great Awakening in the 1740's sparked a revival of religious ideals all over the world and swept through all the American Colonies. The results of the Great Awakening not only brought about great religious revival within the colonies but also established the need for religious rights. The Great Awakening also started a change in the society’s philosophy into a more individual and independent based mindset directly preparing the country for the Revolutionary War. The areas of the country where the Great Awakening affected strongest were the Connecticut Valley and the colony of Massachusetts. The Connecticut Valley was also the area of most radical revivalism and the start of a rebellious mindset within the colonies. The Great Awakening revived the religiously decaying nation by creating new religions and by breaking religious and culture norms. It also brought about "New Lights", new followers of religion who opposed traditional ways and religious practices. Connecticut was the region with the biggest divide between the New Lights and the Old Lights as well. With tensions rising between New Lights and Old Lights in Connecticut conflicts broke out. The conflicts that arose caused many acts to be created by the Connecticut government disallowing preaching in the state by revivalists from other states. The conflicts and issues that arose during the Great Awakening in Connecticut brought light to ideas of rights that eventually made up the foundation of the later American society and brought light upon the unalienable rights of religious freedom. (colonialwarsct.org) The issues present in the New England colonies during the Great Awakening brought about a change of m...
The Protestants who emigrated to America knew from experience of the negative effect the government had on religion when the two were operating together. With the mindset of creating a new, perfect holy land, they decided to make sure both church and state worked separately. While Puritans still did everything they could to enforce their beliefs in New England, including exiling those who did not attend church regularly, the core idea of separation of church and state was in the minds of the people. In order to have a country that values the freedom of religion, the church has to be out of any government policy. Any laws that are created around a single church’s faith, even if the majority of the population believes in them, threaten the freedoms of all other denominations.
The Jacksonians and President Jackson proved to be both keepers and offenders of political democracy. Jacksonians did not protect political democracy for non-white men. The Cherokees and African Americans were persecuted almost entirely by the Jacksonian Democrats. They protected the interests of the poor and rich white-man; protecting the interests of farmers, mechanics, and laborers by keeping the rich from gaining too much power. Jackson and his democrats did a great deal to protect the common man. Universal Manhood Suffrage was also an important factor in the political democracy of the United States. By giving all white men the right to vote it helped lessen the power of the upper class.
...re importantly, it tries to give democracy a good name at a time when democracy, rule by the people, was feared in Europe and the rest of the world. Democracy in America shows us how each society has certain habits that contribute to its definition of democracy. These habits, some of which are good and some bad, check each other to a balance of normalcy in which everyone has opportunity, safety, and potential progress in society. It shows us that democracy incorporates many “habits of the heart” and aggregates them to a common equality, making it an irresistible force in the world. Conversely, the “habits” of the people change over time. So, what Democracy was in America when Tocqueville visited may not be the same as that today or in the future. However, materialism and religion still play key roles in American democracy as a passion and a temper to that passion.
Religious institutions have always been a fundamental piece of American culture, and their influence is evident in many aspects of American life. Especially during the 20th century, the spread of Christianity became more competitive as churches vied against one another to draw in new members. This was particularly evident in the development and growth of conservative Protestant groups. Protestant leaders responded to this competition for followers by developing radically new methods for the worship experience. They used their charisma and entrepreneurial spirit to send their messages to the masses. Protestant leader’s manipulation of these methods of outreach was able to attract many new members to the conservative protestant cause, and encouraged Americans to join these large groups of worship.
The scenes in creation being intellectual, the put together of constitutional democracy was very empirical. The Constitutional Convention was convened to formulate the constitution. What had to be clear was that the only way to assure a functioning constitutional democracy was the public's discussion. In philadelphia the delegates compromised. The outcome was to integrate states with large populations and states with small populations with a bicameral legislative branch. Also compromises that guaranteed say from both slave owning states and non-slave states could be listened to. The Bill of Rights
“The British are coming, the British are coming!” Did you know that these famous words were never yelled by Paul Revere? However, the British were indeed coming. America’s forefathers came to this land to escape oppression from British rule. It wasn’t until they were being overtaxed by the British that they rose up to fight for independence and freedom. This historic event was known as The American Revolution. The American Revolution gave birth to democracy in America through great historical events, unknown facts, and famous penned agreements.
Although some churches had splits after the Great Awakening, most had the same idea of resistance against the British. Many of these men were united in their opposition to the Church and Government of England. Some men’s feelings may have been for religious conviction; others’ reasoning may have been avoiding more taxes (Galloway). Through this common opposition there was a unity “of the congregational and presbyterian [interest] throughout the colonies” (Galloway). This shared resistance meant two denominations of significant membership were now united against the British. Unification would turn out to be extremely significant approaching the Revolutionary War. If religious groups could be united headed into a war that largely opposed the English Church, American churches could “[turn] colonial resistance into a righteous case” (“Religion”). Throughout all of the colonies other resistances were occuring. In Maryland, the Maryland Convention voted for the revision of The Book of Common Prayer (“Religion”). They wanted all parts revised having to do with “prayer and petition for the King’s majesty” (Religion and the American Revolution). Revision of The Book of Common Prayer would not have been a severely rash action on the Americans part. However with the revision, the general trend of moving away from the mother country can be seen. The Great Awakening had a significant impact on the outlook of the American people before and during the American Revolution. The literature coming out of The Great Awakening had a theme of liberation people were seeking with their new found American
The American Revolution marked the divorce of the British Empire and its one of the most valued colonies. Behind the independence that America had fought so hard for, there emerged a diverging society that was eager to embrace new doctrines. The ideals in the revolution that motivated the people to fight for freedom continued to influence American society well beyond the colonial period. For example, the ideas borrowed from John Locke about the natural rights of man was extended in an unsuccessful effort to include women and slaves. The creation of state governments and the search for a national government were the first steps that Americans took to experiment with their own system. Expansion, postwar depression as well as the new distribution of land were all evidence that pointed to the gradual maturing of the economic system. Although America was fast on its way to becoming a strong and powerful nation, the underlying issues brought about by the Revolution remained an important part in the social, political and economical developments that in some instances contradicted revolutionary principles in the period from 1775-1800.
With the development of a civilized society in America during the 1700s and 1800s, the role religion played in an everyday person's life was becoming more and more diminished. To combat this, a series of religious revivals were set in motion: The Great Awakenings. These were a series of large, sweeping religious, social, and political changes that sought to use the basis of religion to revive faith in a neglected belief, bring about numerous social reforms, and use political factions to great effect upon society's mentality. Although most view the First Great Awakening as the first' and greatest' religious, social, and political influence to American society, the second Great Awakening can be considered far more influential in its religious, social, and political aspects of influence.