The First - PowerPoint Presentation

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The First

Great Awakening

Religious Revival (1730s-1740s)EMOTIONAL“Fire and Brimstone” PreachingCalvinist-influencedHuman sinfulness inherentSocial Divisions

EdwardsSlide2

Questions to considerWhy were colonists responsive to the preaching of Whitefield, Edwards, and others?Why were churches (including ministers) ready to adopt a more evangelical approach?

What were the social, economic, and political conditions that might have had an impact on people at this time?Slide3

What was the Awakening?A series of religious evangelical revivals

Led by itinerant preachersEmphasis on personal faith (instead of conformity to doctrine)Taught “new birth” – religious experience – inspired by the “Word of God”Spiritual conversion – reject sinful past – “born again”

Emotional – weeping, fainting . . . Not formal, traditional worship of the past(emphasis on the individual, reliance on experience instead of authority, and mistrust of tradition)Slide4

The Important preachersTheodore Freylinghuysen

William and Gilbert Tennant**Jonathan Edwards**George WhitefieldSlide5

Jonathan EdwardsNorthampton, Mass - Only son (10 sisters) – father was a preacher

Took over the church – published A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God – an account of the extraordinary religious revival beginning in 1734 – considered the harbinger of the Great AwakeningPublished

Religious Affections – defended and criticized the movementHe is considered one of America’s most important, most original philosophical theologians(Was appointed president of Princeton University in 1758, but died of smallpox Slide6

Jonathan

Edwards

Most famous sermon – “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”Filled with imagery – religious beliefBest known, but not typical of EdwardsSlide7

George WhitefieldBorn in England – to America to preach (7 trips)Extremely popular – 1739 preached to 30,000 in Philadelphia

Lively – dramatic – passionateSpoke out against established churches – preached about the spirituality of American slaves (spiritual freedom)Traveled form Georgia to New England – delivered over 18,000 sermons

Admired by Benjamin FranklinSlide8

George Whitefield (1714-1770)

One of the greatest evangelists

(Popularity compared to George Washington)Resonating voice – theatrical presentation – emotional stimulation – message simplification – clever exploitation techniques**Compared to modern televangelistsSlide9

Opponents – “Old Lights”

Claimed evangelicalism distorted the gospel –

Symbolism – imp pouring inspiration in his ear – grotesque Fame listens Devil raking in money below the podium**lower left – followers proposition a prostitute – the caption reads “Their Hearts to lewd Whoring extend”Slide10

Eulogy – poem by 17 year-old slave –

Phillis Wheatley

Will be freed – acclaimed as the “African poetess”(1st published black woman)Slide11

1st Great Awakening legacy

Lasted only a generationLegacy of theological disputes and divisionsCreation of new colleges – Princeton, Brown, Rutgers – to train “New Light” ministers

Ministry spread to the Southern colonies – Baptist, Presbyterian and Methodist churches emergeEstimate – 75-80% of colonist were church membersSlide12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt57rFcpnr4Great Awakening - - - - - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-dk4-HBNWQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTDL8YrlIvg

New for redesignSlide13

NYC - 1730Slide14

NYC - 1771Slide15
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The Age of

Enlightment

(Reason)Its purpose was to reform society using reason, challenge ideas grounded in tradition and faith, and advance knowledge through the scientific methodSlide17

The “Enlightenment” influenced Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson - - - it played a major role in the American RevolutionGreat emphasis on liberty, democracy, republicanism, and religious toleranceSlide18

John Locke – the

Father of Classical Liberalism

His “Enlightment” thinking influenced the American Revolutionaries – His liberal theory is reflected in the Declaration of Independence ( one passage from the Second Treatise is reproduced verbatim – the reference to a "long train of abuses.“)Tabula rasa – the mind is a blank slate – we are what we experience – sensations and reflections the sources of ideasSlide19

In his Second Treatise he argues that the individual ownership of goods and property is justified by the labor exerted to produce goods beneficial to human society.Locke’s political theory is based on social contract - everyone had a natural right to defend his “Life, health, Liberty, or Possessions“

Locke believed in a separation of powers in government (influenced the Constitution)Religion - Although Locke was an advocate of tolerance, he urged the authorities not to tolerate atheism, because the denial of God's existence would undermine the social order and lead to chaosSlide20

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjIwkvhGsooJohn LockeSlide21

Thomas Paine

Enlightenment Philosopher

Enlgishman to America in 1774 with Benjamin FranklinPublished – Common Sense (1776) – “best selling” book advocating Independence from Britain The American Crisis (1776-83) – Revolutionary pamphlet seriesSlide22

“Without the pen of the author of

Common Sense, the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain.” – John Adams

Was a Deist – Of the Religion of Deism Compared with the Christian ReligionSlide23

Questions to considerWhy were colonists responsive to the preaching of Whitefield, Edwards, and others?Why were churches (including ministers) ready to adopt a more evangelical approach?

What were the social, economic, and political conditions that might have had an impact on people at this time?