Great Awakening

Definition

The Great Awakening was a series of religious revivals that swept through the American colonies in the mid-18th century, leading to significant changes in the religious and social landscape. This movement emphasized personal religious experience, emotional expression, and a direct relationship with God, in contrast to the more formal and intellectual approach of established churches.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. The Great Awakening was a series of religious revivals that swept through the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s, led by preachers like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield.
2. The revivals emphasized personal religious experience, emotional expression, and a direct relationship with God, in contrast to the more formal and intellectual approach of established churches.
3. The Great Awakening helped to undermine the authority of established churches and clergy, and contributed to the growth of evangelical Protestantism in the colonies.
4. The Great Awakening also had social and political implications, as it challenged traditional hierarchies and promoted a more egalitarian and democratic vision of society.
5. The ideas and practices of the Great Awakening had a lasting impact on American religion and culture, contributing to the development of evangelicalism and the rise of the Baptist and Methodist denominations.

Review Questions

• Explain how the Great Awakening challenged the traditional religious and social order in the American colonies.
  • The Great Awakening challenged the traditional religious and social order in the American colonies by emphasizing personal religious experience and emotion over the formal and intellectual approach of established churches. This undermined the authority of the clergy and traditional hierarchies, and promoted a more egalitarian and democratic vision of society. The revivals also contributed to the growth of evangelical Protestantism, which challenged the dominance of the Anglican and Puritan churches and led to the rise of new denominations like the Baptists and Methodists.
• Describe the role of the Great Awakening in the development of American religious and cultural identity.
  • The Great Awakening played a significant role in the development of American religious and cultural identity. The emphasis on personal religious experience and emotional expression helped to shape a distinct American Protestant tradition, which would later evolve into evangelicalism. The Great Awakening also challenged traditional social and political hierarchies, contributing to a more egalitarian and democratic vision of society that would influence the American Revolution and the early republic. The lasting impact of the Great Awakening can be seen in the continued prominence of evangelical Protestantism and the importance of religious revivalism in American culture and politics.
• Analyze the connections between the Great Awakening, the consumer revolution, and the rise of slavery in the American colonies.
  • The Great Awakening, the consumer revolution, and the rise of slavery in the American colonies were interconnected phenomena in the 18th century. The religious revivals of the Great Awakening challenged traditional social and political hierarchies, which created an environment more receptive to the egalitarian and democratic ideas that emerged during the consumer revolution. At the same time, the economic growth and increased consumer demand fueled by the consumer revolution contributed to the expansion of slavery, as plantation owners sought to increase production to meet the growing market. The Great Awakening's emphasis on personal religious experience and emotional expression also influenced the development of a distinct African-American religious tradition, which would later play a key role in the abolitionist movement and the struggle for civil rights.

Related terms

Revivalism:

The religious movement that emphasized personal spiritual renewal and emotional religious experiences, which was a key aspect of the Great Awakening.

Evangelicalism: A Protestant movement that emphasizes the authority of the Bible, the need for personal conversion, and the importance of evangelism, which emerged from the ideas and practices of the Great Awakening.

Arminianism: A theological perspective that challenged the Calvinist doctrine of predestination and emphasized the role of individual free will in salvation, which was influential during the Great Awakening.