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Why was religion soimportant during the colonial times
The second great awakening in america
Influence of Religion on Colonial America
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Religion before the Great Awakening was strictly based on class and social status. Most people in the colonies sat in different seats, and they were divided into sections. It was not until the Great Awakening that these different social groups of people started to mix. Women, for example were treated harsh in the Puritan churches. They were considered as subordinates of men, and they did not have any roles in churches.
With the growth of colonies in the Americas, communal ideas held by early settlements start to lose popularity. Ideas such as private ownership start to gain popularity as colonists start to advance. With the decline of religious restrictions from the Puritan church, colonists become far more aggressive in the economy and following individual desires .
The New England, Chesapeake, and the Mid-Atlantic Colonies were beginning to find their reason of life whether it be around religion, wealth, or profit each colony had centered around a different
Religion played a great role in the establishment of the English colonies. The main reason the English traveled to North America was to escape religious persecution. Once the English settled in they created colonies, and established rules for a religious society. They would also try to convert Natives into Christianity, and they established universities to practice ministry. Once the English settlers got to North America, the House of Burgesses in 1619 said they would try to convert Native children specifically boys into a “ true religion”, then eventually teach them how teach them how to be Christian civil people.
The Great Awakening was the most important event of American religion in the eighteenth century, it was a series of emotionally based religious revivals that swept across the American colonies in the 1730s and 1740s with the first awakening and again from the 1790s to the 1830s in the second. This awakening allowed for a new breed of preachers to step forth, one that was dynamic in speech with the ability to excite the masses in the colonies, spreading the Word of God through the colonies preaching fire and brimstone. The preaching style of fire and brimstone was a revivalist form that used fiery and highly descriptive language, thundering that people that did not establish a personal relationship with God would be damned to hell. The book
From the years 1607 to 1700, religion impacted the development of the New England, Mid-Atlantic, and Chesapeake colonies by shaping legislation, populations, and culture. The Plymouth colony was founded on the basis of Separatists, or those who wanted to separate from the Church of England. This group created the Mayflower compact, an agreement between male settlers to follow what the majority dictated. The compact was signed in order to keep civil order within the colony. This was the first step toward self government, and was used as a basis for other constitutions.
Religion in the Southern colonies wasn’t as big of a deal like it was in the Middle, and Northern colonies. The main religion in the south was, Anglican. The economy in the south was like no other. The South has warm weather and a good amount of rainfall. The two main crops included: tobacco and rice.
The American Enlightenment and the Great Awakening were two very important motivators that changed the colonial society in America through religious beliefs, educational values, and the right to live one’s life according to each individual’s preference. The Great Awakening and the American Enlightenment movements were two events in history that signaled a grand distinction to the teachings among religious believers. New beliefs of how a person should worship in order to be considered in “God’s good graces” soon became an enormous discussion among colonists across the land. “Men of the cloth,” such as George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards were well respected and closely followed when preaching about the love of God and damnation.
Religious ideas played a central role in the way people understood and reacted to the world around them in colonial America. The colonies were founded by various religious groups seeking freedom to practice their faith without persecution. Religion influenced many aspects of colonial people's daily life, from politics and social order to economic practices and daily life. Religious ideas were not only important but often the cause of antagonism and violence in colonial America. One example of religious antagonism in colonial America can be seen in the Salem witch trials of 1692 (American YAWP, 3.5).
Only those who could give a public and credible testimony of their conversion became full members of the churches. Thus, in its initial phase Puritanism was marked by a great religious intensity, a kind of continuous revival. This characteristic of Puritanism would strongly influence the different manifestations of American Protestantism. Over the years, the new generations have lost the vision and religious fervor of the pioneers. Increasing economic prosperity and intellectual advancement have resulted in a progressive numbing of the spiritual life.
Despite the intricate positions on abolition, the Second Great Awakening influenced many leaders and developed new principles that radiated throughout the country. Christianity was the one unifying factor that most Americans could identify with at the time. The Enlightenment Era challenged old ideas of divine authority and stimulated a more progressive church aiming for equality. With leaders in the church declaring that slavery was a sin, and promoting the idea of a forgiving God, many northerners began to reach out and spread the word of God and secure their eternal salvation. These values were preached to most Americans from a very young age through song and childrens books.
The Influence of Puritanism In the eighteenth century, a passionate interest in religion and salvation developed in the American colonies. This period became known as the Great Awakening. The Great Awakening was an evangelical and revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America, especially the American colonies leaving a permanent impact on American Protestantism. Many emotions were let out during this awakening and many ethos, logos, and pathos were used to persuade the audience of the American Colonists.
In the 1730s and 1740s a revival called the Great Awakening took place. In a sermon called Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, Edwards incorporates his concern by reminding everyone of God’s wrath in the face of their worldliness and wealth. Edwards explains, “O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: ‘tis a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you as against many of the damned in hell.” After this more churches popped up along with new colleges and universities, and over time these values and beliefs became as prominent as when they were first established.
This tolerance also emerges out of decreasing religions during the 18th century. According to Macmillan Learning, the decrease in religious importance helped to unify the country 's (129). As time progress more people were focusing on world events than previously in the 1700’s. Britain had lax control over the colonies at this point, the colonies tended to follow the same rules of governing even though the colonies were separate entities. This added to the sense of unity between nations.
The English Monarch, at the time, wanted power over religion and sought total control. With this goal, practicing other religions, outside the Church of England, punishable by law. Many English wasted to continue practicing their religions, and America offered the potential to do so without the threat of English law. B. Describe the economic systems, social characteristics and political systems of the following colonies.
