The Great Awakening

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer discusses class differences during the 'Great Awakening'. The writer maintains that those who practiced the established religions tended to be of a different class and outlook of those who heeded the call of the 'Great Awakening' preachers. The established plutocrats found the new religious movements threatening, and thereby controversial. The writer addresses the 'Great Awakening' as a controversy between the existing, moneyed classes and the local traders, artisans and the laboring poor.

From the Paper:

"The colonists were spread out, rural, and had little contact with the religion of the larger towns, such as Boston and Philadelphia. Nearly all professed some form of religion, and nearly all needed religious and moral support for the perils they were facing: death, childbirth, Indian raids, and the terrifying images of hell. The established, Puritan religion of the Massachusetts Colony preached that not attending church every day would lead to eternal damnation. Many who lived in rural areas were unable to attend church. These were the farmers, the hunters, the small tradesmen, who were God-fearing but bereft of formal Church support.
"The obvious solution was the itinerant preacher, who brought God to the settlements and villages in the far-flung hinterlands. The need was great throughout the Colonies, and many preachers arose to take on the task."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Brannan, R. "Benjamin Franklin on George Whitefield." Pioneernet. April 30, 1998. http://www.pioneernet.net/rbrannan/whitefield/bfongw.htm (accessed December 4, 2007).
• Kidd, TE. The Great Awakening. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007.
• Kirsch, GB. "Clerical Dismissals in Colonial and Revolutionary New Hampshire." Church History, 1980: 161-179.
• McCormick, MS. The Great Awakening and its Effect on the Society and REligion of the Connecticut River Valley. Historical, Hartford: Longmeadow.org, 2007.
• Scruple, RB. History of the Rise and Progress of the Baptists in Virginia. Richmond: Richmond Press, 1810.

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