Identity In Thomas Bender's The Great Awakening

Particularly captivated by Whitefield's unique preaching strategy were poor whites and enslaved blacks, who were finally beginning to embrace Christianity. Another effect of the great awakening occurred with the African slaves that were forcibly brought to the colonies to work. A great sense of irony, in spite of their disapprovals of the slave trade and the exploitation of slaves, George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards were slave-owners. Edwards had routinely bought household slaves, the first record of which dates to 1731, while Whitefield “came to own a South Carolina plantation worked by slaves” and “pushed for the legalization of slavery in Georgia” in the 1750’s . Clearly, both Whitefield and Edwards saw no flaw between the keeping of their slaves and the freedom in Christ of which they so single-mindedly professed.

The Great Awakening occurred in the middle of the eighteenth century and brought along a series of revivals through North America. This movement created several new religious denominations, including the Methodists, the Presbyterians, and the Baptists. This event would have a great impact on the colonial North American Society. One of the Great Awakening’s key leaders was an English minister, named George Whitefield. As a popular religious figure, George Whitefield had a central message of “What must I do to be saved.”

During the 1400’s, a physical connection was made between Europe and the Native Americans by Christopher Columbus. Today, he is looked upon as a hero for discovering the land that the United States of America currently occupies. Beneath the glorified image of Columbus, there lies something much darker that people often overlook. Although Columbus began the migration of Europeans to America, he did not discover it first. In addition, the new formed connection between the Europeans and the Americas paved way for the genocide of many of the indigenous people.

History outlines the role that different people played in the establishment of the present-day America. In the British North America, several men were engaged in the exploration of the land with some of them end up being termed as heroes in the long run. The activities which they were involved in during that time influenced the way the region came to be through personal attributes or even exploiting the native groups to ensure that they either benefited their country or themselves eventually. Most of the men were involved in the leadership of various groups, and their roles made an impact that even in the present day can be appreciated by all in the society. The history of the world is but the biography of great men who were also part of the America's history (Carlyle, 1993).

Occom, born in 1723 and a member of the Mohegan tribe, experienced much of the “colonial infiltration” and “erosion of tribal territories” in New England and, through his religious convictions and connections with white colonial religious leaders, specifically Eleazar Wheelock, attempted to stymie this conflict by “reviv[ing] spirituality among aggrieved Native communities” (3). Presumably, Occom believed this revival would shape the Native Americans into more cohesive members of the new society forced upon them by promoting “political autonomy and spiritual well-being” (4). To support this assertion, it is necessary to analyze Occom’s sermons, starting with perhaps his most famous sermon, his Sermon at the Execution of Moses Paul, which he gave in 1772.

He preached zealously about the folly of believing in salvation through good works. He went as far as providing a landscape of Hell in his most famous sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”. He depicted the place of eternal damnation as being “paved with the skulls of unbaptized children.” Four years later, a man by the name of George Whitefield released a revitalizing style of evangelic preaching throughout the colonies. His booming voice resounded over thousands in an open field. An envious, acclaimed English actor stated that Whitefield could make audiences weep by merely saying “Mesopotamia.” He continued in his oration of God’s almighty nature while touring the colonies, eventually bringing Jonathan Edwards to tears and frugal Benjamin Franklin to emptying his pockets into the collection plate. “Old lights”, as the orthodox clergymen were called, were skeptical of the revivalists’ theatrical antics, while “new light” ministers supported the Awakening for its rejuvenating of American religion. The lasting effects of the Great Awakening were many. Believing converts went to other sects that were more accepting of emotive spirituality, Congregationalists and Presbyterians split, competitiveness amongst American churches arose, a wave of missionary work flowed over Indians and black slaves, many “new light” institutions were founded, and, perhaps most significant, the Great Awakening was the first mass movement of the American

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This caused in him a feeling in which he had never felt before, and thus inspired him to new things to get himself more aquatinted with God:

The Second Great Awakening laid the foundations of the development of present-day religious beliefs and establishments, moral views, and democratic ideals in the United States. Beginning back in late eighteenth century and lasting until the middle of the nineteenth century,1 this Protestant awakening sought to reach out the un-churched and bring people to a much more personal and vivid experience of Christianity. Starting on the Southern frontier and soon spreading to the Northeast, the Second Great Awakening has also been associated as a response against the growing liberalism in religion - skepticism, deism, and rational Christianity.2 Although the movement is well-known to be

The Jamestown colony was a thriving community from what it looks like in the picture. They have ships coming in and out which means economically their resources are substantial. The civilization is building it's way up. They had not fully cut themselves off from the British throne which means they still had incoming resources from them which help them establish their

By the 18th century, there were concerns about the declining religious devotion and the increase of secularism emerging in the United States. The result of these changes was the Great Awakening, the first major american revival. There were many preachers that were outspoken from their religion. George Whitefield was one of many of those preachers. Whitefield was very compassionate during his speeches, preaching the words of God, weeping with sorrow, spreading the word of God, and hitting people on an emotional standpoint. He made numerous evangelizing tours through the colonies and attracted large crowds. Nathan Cole, like thousands of others, came to see George Whitefield. Nathan Cole wrote in “The Spiritual Travels of Nathan Cole” and said, “When I saw Mr. Whitefield come upon the Scaffold he lookt almost angelical; a young, Slim, slender, youth before some thousands of people with a bold undaunted Countenance, and my hearing how God was with him every where he came along it Solemnized my mind; and put me into a trembling fear before he began to preach; for he looked as if he was Cloathed with authority from the Great God; and a sweet sollume solemnity sat upon his brow And my hearing him preach, gave me a heart wound…” Cole had just described that hundreds upon hundreds of people came to see Whitefield and speakers like him. This greatly revived religion in many peoples’ lives. Cole said that the speech given touched him in the heart as it did with thousands of others.

Nathan Hatch compares the Second Great Awakening to the Jacksonian era. He states that the men trying to persuade other people to join their religion was like tyrants trying to get people to follow them. That just like the beginning stages of the revolution, this was a time of power struggle for religious leaders. Hatch writes ‘These movements

From the initial formation of the American colonies, there has been tension between Protestant and Catholic religious ideology. In his book Who Are We, Samuel Huntington discusses the importance of the early American settler’s dissenting Protestant values. Without the Protestants, Huntington claims, American culture as we know it would not exist (Huntington, 59). Huntington is right that American culture was formally designed by dissenting Protestants, although that history is fraught with prejudice against opposing religious groups. This tension is most notable within the concept and application of religious freedom throughout American history.

The role of religion in early American literature is extremely pervasive and it forms the obvious theme for most written work composed during the period. The highly religious nature of the early settlers and their

Content- Moses is watching over his father-in-law's flock of sheep, and he wanders with them to Horeb, the mountain of God. An angel of God appears to him in the form of a bush that appears on fire but doesn't burn. God speaks to Moses and tells him that he's going to deliver the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. He has picked Moses has to lead them.