The Role Of Religion In The Great Awakening

The Great Awakening was a time period between the 1730s and the 1750s in which colonists once again became wildly interested in religion. The newfound interest in faith became the driving force behind many of their plans, such as some of the universities that were created during that time. The Great Awakening united the colonists under the same idea and eventually led to a desire for independence from England. It encouraged the spread of religion, inspired the beginnings of an American Identity, and allowed the colonists to realize that they held power over religion and could hold power over the government itself. The spread of religion during this time period was massive. New denominations of Christianity were created, which caused a surge in religious pluralism. Each domination was bent on converting new people to their religion. That competitiveness between denominations ensured that no denomination could rule over all others. Without the possibility of a dominant religion, the competitiveness between the denominations would never have an ending meaning that religious
zeal would never die out. That religious zeal eventually became a major driving force behind the 1776 revolution. The revival itself inspired ministers from England to come to the colonies and speak to the colonists. The most notable person who did this was George Whitefield. Rather than speaking in small churches, Whitefield carried around a pulpit and spoke in large areas to thousands of people at a time. His sermons were often nondenominational in order to reach as many people as he possibly could. This religious spread – rather than splitting the American people – brought the colonists together and united them under a single idea; faith. Bringing the colonists together under the idea of faith started the formation of a new American identity.
The creation of new denominations may have separated the beliefs of the colonists, but the newfound freedom of religion formed a separation between England and the colonies. Even with religious toleration in England, the official Church of England still had extreme power over the government and how it was run. Whereas England had one official religion that ruled over all citizens, the colonies formed around the idea of multiple religions sharing leadership. Colonists were still expected to follow the rules of a church, but they reserved the right to split off from a church without permission. That right – which one could not have in England – inspired the beginnings of a new, unified identity for the American people and showed these new Americans that they had more power than they
realized. By being able to break off from a church without permission of the church, the colonists discovered that they had power over their religion. With the realization of power over religious choices and religion itself came the realization that colonists could have power over the government. Even though the colonies were previously self-governing, they still followed the rules of the Church of England. Afterwards, they started creating their own rules and ideas rather than following those put in place by England. This separated them even further from English rule. That separation – originally induced by religion – was amplified when England cracked down on the colonies in the 1770s after the war with France and inspired the colonists to break off from England completely, just like they had done with their own churches. Not only was the Great Awakening a contributor to the desire for independence of American colonists, it also provided the means for the colonists to break apart from the mother country. The spread of religion within the colonies helped to create one of the most powerful nations to ever exist. By forming a new identity through the ideals of the Great Awakening, the colonists were able to separate themselves from the rule of England. Eventually, they would realize the power they held and use that power to permanently establish themselves as a new nation across the ocean from their previous leadership.