One Nation Under God: The Lasting Effects of the Second Great Awakening

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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. Even though the First and Second Great Awakenings focused its attention on other matters of life later on, religion was the theme upon which they were built.

Puritanism and the American Great Awakening of the 18th century 1.0 Introduction The Great Awakening refers to the period of religious restoration that spanned across the 18th century. During that period, there was increased enthusiasm towards religious beliefs caused by evangelical ministries that protested against the early Roman Catholic Church and repressive colonial regime (Tracey 18). As a result, there was deep conviction and revival for the affected groups with a boom in church membership. The First Great Awakening is reported to have occurred between 1730s and 1760s leading to the growth of religious movements that constructed America’s national identity during the colonial era. This piece of work is aimed at examining the role of religion in colonial America.

Soon after the war, the religious conflicts that infected fundamentalism in the 1920’s were no longer relevant. Protestantism, in its mainline form, had become much more evangelical in its’ nature and its’ sects became much more interested in becoming recognized publicly. Many historians agree that, “what has not often been recognized, however, is that one of the most important driving forces behind the postwar resurgence of religion was a cadre o... ... middle of paper ... ...er of evangelical history, in which the Pentecostal-charismatic movement is quickly supplanting the fundamentalist-conservative one as the most influential evangelical impulse at work today”(Carpenter 237). The neo-fundamentalist movement, stemming from Graham and Falwell, is just another story in the rise and fall of influential popular movements, as now Pentecostalism has become the fastest growing form of Christianity in the world, with three to four hundred million adherents(Notes 12/3). The pattern in this rise and fall tends to be pieces that overlap and pieces that change and fundamentalism is no different.

Afterward in his argument, McLoughlin writes" As the opinion (the great awakening) spread after 1742 throughout the colonies, many came to believe that Americans could not effectively fulfill this mission so long as they were tied to a corrupt, oppressive, and tyrannical monarch and Parliament in England " The general effect of this Great Awakening had the outcome that the colonies were able to develop a new kind of neocolonial unity. This could have also been part of the resistance to the laws and such if the British. Lastly, McLoughlin says that the revolution in a way can be described as the political revitalization of a people whose religious regeneration began in the Great Awakening.

Luther’s defiance inspired other people to create Protestant denominations. His 95 Theses had started a religious revolution. His protest for reform had inspired others to demand religious change. His openness and ideas for change encouraged reformers such John Calvin, who provided Protestantism 's theological underpinnings. Whilst there were some negative effects of Luther’s teachings, such as the St Bartholomew’s day massacre (1572) where mobs of Catholics began a general massacre of Huguenot Protestants, Catholicism and Protestantism spread throughout Europe and America.

Put Preachers in Jail: The Great Awakening in Connecticut 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.

Deism and Changes in Religious Tolerance in America Religious conscience in America has evolved considerably since the first settlers emigrated here from Europe. Primary settlements were established by Puritans and Pilgrims who believed "their errand into the wilderness [America] was above all else a religious errand, and all institutions - town meeting, school, church, family, law-must faithfully reflect that fact" (Gaustad 61). However, as colonies grew, dissenters emerged to challenge Puritan authority; indeed, many of them left the church to join untraditional religious sects such as "the Ranters, the Seekers, the Quakers, the Antinomians, and the Familists" (Westbrook 26). Debates over softening the stance on tolerance in the church engendered hostility in many religious leaders, priming some officials to take action. Whether it was in direct response to "the liberalizing tendencies beginning to take hold in some [.

Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1964. Noll, Mark A.. The Old Religion in a New World: the History of North American Christianity. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2002. Reymond, Robert L.. A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith.

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