8.1.1

Describe the relationship between the moral and political ideas of the Great Awakening and the development of revolutionary fervor.
             The Great Awakening, in addition to a new viewpoint of religion, brought new ideas of religion linked to rebellion. The people of the revolutionary period had been taught that determination, even if it led to rebellion, was one way to respect and opportunity. The Great Awakening, one of the greatest religious revivals in history, forced the colonists to reach decisions about their religious viewpoints and loyalties; this is thought to have prepared the people to apply these new skills of decision - making in the field of politics.
             The British monarchy stated firmly that the colonies belonged to the British. In the end, the colonists gave in to the persuasion of the rebels, and resulted in the Revolutionary War. In the most basic terms, another bridge between the moral and political ideas of the Great Awakening was that to be a morally good and religious person, you had to follow God. Political leaders, who were rebels, used these moral beliefs to create additional supporters of a revolution by stating that the British were trying to imitate God.
             Moral ideas in the Great Awakening period suggested that the king and the British were all evil. Those moral ideas led to the political idea that citizens should form a militia to defeat and be free of the evil. It was both the moral and political ideas of the time that prepared the citizens to fight Britain through religious means. During the period of the Great Awakening, the colonists had mixed feelings on whether to listen to religious preaches or government logics. The churches taught to rely more on what you felt was right rather than what was logically correct. These religious viewpoints were used to advantage by colonial leaders to develop revolutionary fervor in the colonies. One of the leading sources of the propaganda used to provoke the colonists using religion was the pamphlet, Common Sense. Thomas Paine, the author, insisted that the British monarchy contradicted the power that lied solely with God to control human beings. The continentals took advantage of the extreme religious loyalty of the colonists to encourage and intensify feelings of enthusiasm for the revolution. The government, which had different viewpoints of the Great Awakening, had connections to politics and religion.


More Information:

   1.    http://home.earthlink.net/~gfeldmeth/USHistory.html
          This website has an excellent outline on the Great Awakening, which is great to review for those who don’t remember what happened. It has elements and ideas of the Great Awakening, in addition to short descriptions of leaders and results. The first Great Awakening and the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

   2.    http://www.nhc.rtp.nc.us:8080/tserve/eighteen
          This article contains a substantially detailed overview of the first Great Awakening. It also lets you see multi-faceted opinions on subjects about the first Great Awakening from the viewpoints of many historians. Religion and the American Revolution, The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.


Recommended Books:

   1.    Under the Cope of Heaven
          by Patricia U. Bonomi