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The First Great Awakening and its impacts on the American Society

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The First Great Awakening and its impacts on the American Society

The Great Awakening was an important event that influenced American religious

orientation and revolutionary spirit. This analysis describes the fundamental principles of

reformation and some of the key personalities that were involved in the Great Awakening. It also

highlights outcomes like greater tolerance of religious diversity and the impact on American

Identity and independence.

The first great awakening, between the 1730s and 1770s, was characterized by the revival

of spirituality and religious devotion (Platt, 2021). It occurred during a period of great wealth

and flourishment among the descendants of the first settlers of the American colonies which had

ultimately diminished their religious identity and values (Platt, 2021). The awakening was part of

a greater movement that started in England and Scotland and led to the growth of a protestant

congregation in the American colonies. The fundamental belief of reformation during the Great

Awakening was that individuals, rather than ministers and preachers had the final interpretation

of the scripture (Platt, 2021). Additionally, God’s covenant with individual believers was based

on individual consent (Platt, 2021). Therefore, the period promoted changes in the integration of

religious equality and morality.

Some of the influential personalities of the Great Awakening included George

Whitefield. He travelled to the American colonies, upon expulsion from preaching in England,

and converted many slaves and natives to Christianity (Quirion and Ray, 2016). He was adored

by people like Benjamin Franklin, who was initially a religious skeptic which shows the extent

of Whitefield’s influence and role in the Great Awakening. According to Quirion and Ray
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(2016), other personalities included Gilbert Tennent from the Middle Colonies and Reverend

Jonathan Edwards from New England became the president of Princeton University.

Notably, the great awakening fostered the birth and growth of a revolutionary spirit that

sought religious equality. The American colonists demanded religious equality to alleviate the

extreme powers and privileges held by religious ministers during the time. For instance,

ministers were treated as aristocrats, were not always procedurally ordained and demonstrated

limited respect for members of the society (Uzunkopru, 2020). However, the new ministers that

came with the great awakening demonstrated a better connection and respect for common

people. The emerging religious denominations were also more democratic. Therefore, the great

awakening was vital in fostering a universal message of religious equality within the American

colonies.

The revolutionary spirit that emerged during the first great awakening also paved way for

the independence and the Constitution. Earlier sentiments about religious equality incentivized

members and activists within the American colonies to recognize the need for democracy within

the state (Uzunkopru, 2020). Particularly, the reformation concept which emphasized that the

church covenant was based on the voluntary consent and participatory relationship was expanded

and applied to political philosophy and governance. Such Ethos and Ideals fostered the appeal

for liberty as the new religious ministers and preachers also supported the American Revolution

that led to the Independence of American colonies (Uzunkopru, 2020). Therefore, as religious

liberty was achieved against tyrannical religious leaders, it influenced the quest for civil liberty

against the unjust British Authorities.

The great awakening united American colonialists in various ways. Notably, it was the

first major national event to occur within the American colonies. It therefore influenced a shared
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feeling and awareness associated with the American Identity across the thirteen American

colonies. Therefore, it united American society by introducing a unifying mark of revived

religious devotion and diversity in American culture and identity.

On the other hand, it also led to divisions within American denominations and society.

The division particularly occurred between those who accepted religious revolution (new lights)

and those who upheld the traditional religious beliefs also called old lights. For instance, old

lights accused new lights of fostering fanaticism and disorder through the emergence of religious

enthusiasm and preachers who were educated. Hence, the first great awakening caused more than

98 schisms (disagreements) between old lights and new lights. In Connecticut, the schisms and

divisions affected the ability of authorities to determine which religious group was “official” for

taxation and registration purposes. Nevertheless, the movement influenced greater tolerance of

religious diversity as multiple new denominations sprung out. Subsequently, the conflicts and

divisions affiliated with the movement were part of the reasons why the movement declined in

the mid-1740s.

Besides religious tolerance and diversity, the movement also influenced the development

of some of America’s earliest and most prestigious educational institutions like colleges. They

began as evangelical education structures. Such institutions include Princeton (founded by New

Side Presbyterian in 1746), Rutgers, Dartmouth (1754, meant to train Native American boys for

missionary work) and Brown among others (Mauk and John, 2017). Such institutions were

important in promoting literacy and education hence shaping great people who later had

profound impacts on American History (Mauk and John, 2017). They also influenced

enlightenment, the power of reason and scientific observations that led to social, intellectual and

religious changes across the colonies. For example, some of the American leaders that were early
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graduates of Princeton included James Madison and Aaron Burr who was Thomas Jefferson’s

Vice president (Mauk and John, 2017). The first great awakening was followed by the second

and third movements that also affected American society in dynamic ways.
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Bibliography

Mauk, David, and John Oakland. American civilization: an introduction. Routledge, 2017.

Platt, Roland. "The First Great, or not so Great, Awakening and what it Means for Today."

Journal of Unification Studies Vol 22 (2021): 153-163.

Quirion, Kory and Ray Thomas. "The First Great Awakening: Revival and the Birth of a

Nation." Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History 1, no. 2 (2016): 3.

Uzunkopru, Suleiman. "The primary role of the First Great Awakening (American Revivalism)

in the Spring of American Identity." Journal of International Social Research 13, no. 70

(2020).