The Great Awakening
Let’s Make Some Connections
The Great Awakening
Learning Target: What were influential
events which helped bring about the Great
Awakening in America?
The Glorious Revolution

Which of the following statements about the 1688
Glorious Revolution is inaccurate?

(A) the powers of the English monarchy increased and
the powers of Parliament decreased
(B) William of Orange became king of England
(C) the English Bill of Rights was passed by Parliament
(D) Catholics were denied the right to vote or be a
member of Parliament
(E) Governor Andros of Massachusetts was forced from
office by colonists inspired in part by the changes in
English government
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Answer:
(A) the powers of the English monarchy increased
and the powers of Parliament decreased
The abdication of King James II
led to the Glorious Revolution
(Image Source: Wikimedia
Commons--public domain)
Explanation:
The prospect of a Catholic heir to the throne led to the peaceful Glorious Revolution of 1688 which
brought William of Orange and his wife Mary to the English throne. In addition, Parliament passed
the Bill of Rights, greatly expanding its powers and limiting the powers of the monarchy. The
Glorious Revolution greatly reduced the position of Roman Catholics who lost the right to vote or be
elected to Parliament. It also helped provoke a revolt in Boston that resulted in Governor Andros
being forced from office and imprisoned.
Glorious Revolution in America
The Glorious Revolution that brought William and Mary to
the British throne
A) led directly to the establishment of Georgia as a debtor
colony
B) made the Roman Catholic Church a more powerful
religious force in the colonies
C) sparked Indian uprisings throughout the western colonial
frontier lands
D) caused the charters of all proprietary colonies to be
revoked
E) resulted in colonial unrest and uprisings in both New York
and Massachusetts
Answer: E) resulted in colonial unrest and uprisings in both
New York and Massachusetts Explanation: When members
of Parliament helped William of Orange take the British
throne, the Glorious Revolution resulted in challenges to
James II of England, who authority in the colonies. Leisler's Rebellion in New
was forced
York briefly interrupted British rule as the royal governor was
off the throne by the forced out of office. In Massachusetts, Governor Andros was
Glorious Revolution of imprisoned by colonists and a new charter was granted.
1688
Glorious Revolution 1688
= power struggle in government
How did tHis impact tHe colonies? “poweR stRUGGle”
Glorious Revolution 1688
Charles II- Parliament
asserted authority in
national policy
 Death in 1685
 James II- became king
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Catholic
Ruled by divine right
Decreed religious toleration
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Effects on Colonies
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James II- more control
over colonies, $ so he was
less dependent on
Parliament
Edmund Andros- NE rule
threatened
 English Liberties
 Church-State Relations
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(Puritans)
Glorious Revolution 1688
Changes in the Colonies

William of Orange and
Mary – assumed the
throne
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Liberty was a birth
right
King subjected to rule
of law
Bill of Rights- more
authority to Parliament

Colonist expected to
be afforded the same
rights as Englishmen

Led to rebellions
 Maryland
Rebellion
 Leisler’s Rebellion
Which of the following statements about the American
Enlightenment is/are accurate?

"
Franklin Drawing Electricity
from the Sky," by Benjamin West
(Image Source: Wikimedia
Commons--public domain)
Answer:
(B) I, III, and IV only
I. European thinkers such as Locke and Voltaire challenged
traditional assumptions about knowledge, freedom, and
equality
II. An increased dependence on faith and divine revelation
led to a resurgence in personal piety
III. The concepts of democracy, liberation, and reform are
all outgrowths of Enlightenment thinking
IV. Scientific contributions by Enlightenment scientists such
as Benjamin Franklin resulted in practical inventions
benefiting many Americans.
(A) I, II, and III only
(B) I, III, and IV only
(C) I and IV only
(D) all of the statements are accurate
(E) none of the statements are accurate
Explanation:
European Enlightenment thinkers began rejecting the deterministic approach of
Calvinism and emphasized the power of reason and the human mind. American
intellectuals adopted Enlightenment ideas, leading to both scientific advancement and
support for the progressive ideas of democracy, liberation, and reform.
Which of the following statements about the Great Awakening
are accurate?
The Great Awakening
I. It resulted in a split between New Light and Old Light
congregations.
II. Its most effective preachers appealed to the heart, rather
than to cold rationalism.
III. It challenged religious authority and tax-supported
churches.
IV. It was mainly anti-intellectual and had no impact on
American higher education.
V. African-Americans, particularly in the Chesapeake region,
converted to Christianity through its preaching.
A) I, II, III, and V only
B) I, II and IV only
C) II, III, IV and V only
D) I, III, IV and V only
E) all of the statements are accurate
A sermon by Gilbert Tennent,
Answer: A) I, II, III, and V only Explanation: The
Great Awakening was a series of religious revivals among a significant Great Awakening
preacher
Protestants throughout the colonies in the 1730s and
1740s. It promoted religious pluralism as preachers
challenged established churches and urged the training of
New Light ministers in newly created seminaries which
focused on learning Greek, Hebrew and study of the
Bible.
Influence of the Enlightenment
*What was it?
Every human institution, authority, and
tradition be judged before the bar of reason
*Republicanism
-active participation in public life
*Liberalism
-individual & private
-Locke- Social Contract, Natural Rights
L,L, & P, Sovereign rulers
Changes in the Public Sphere

Right to vote (property) women, religion
Rise of Assemblies
 Political debates
 Ben Franklin
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 Junto
(1727)
 Press (1731)
 Books, Newspapers, Poor Richard’s Almanac

Zenger Trial (1735)
Changes in Christianity

What was the significance of the
Great Awakening?
Changes in Christianity
Deism
 Great Awakening

 Religious
 George
Emotionalism & Personal
Whitefield
 Jonathan
Edwards
stressed immediate repentance
Great Awakening
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Things to know
 Great
Awakening
 Half-Way
Covenant
 Contrasting
ideas of Enlightenment (Deism)
and the Great Awakening
 New
Lights vs. Old Lights
SINNERS BEWARE!
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The God that holds you over the Pit of Hell, much as one holds a Spider, or
some loathsome Insect, over the Fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully
provoked: his Wrath towards you burns like Fire; he looks upon you as
worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the Fire; he is of purer Eyes than
to bear to have you in his Sight; you are ten Times so abominable in his
Eyes, as the most hateful venomous Serpent is in ours. You have offended
him infinitely more than ever a stubborn Rebel did his Prince; and yet ‘tis
nothing but His Hand that holds you from falling into the Fire every moment.
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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 many of the Damned in Hell. You hang by a slender
Thread, the Flames of divine Wrath flashing about it, and ready in a Moment
to singe it, and burn it asunder.
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Source: Jonathan Edwards , Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God...
(Boston: Printed & sold by S. Kneeland & T. Green, 1741).
Let’s take a little listen to
Jonathan Edwards
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=CFEFBmSHJLw&feature=related
Changes in Christianity

What was the significance of the
Great Awakening?
Review Slides
ENLIGHTENMENT

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TIME PERIOD-
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The Age of Enlightenment (or simply the Enlightenment or Age of
Reason) was a cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century
Europe and the American colonies. Its purpose was to reform
society using reason (rather than tradition, faith and revelation)
and advance knowledge through science. It promoted science and
intellectual interchange and opposed superstition, intolerance and
some abuses by church and state.

Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677), John Locke (1632–
1704), Pierre Bayle (1647–1706), physicist Isaac
Newton (1643–1727), philosopher Voltaire (1694–
1778) Rousseau (1712–1778), Montesquieu
(1689–1755) ALSO AMERICANS-- Benjamin
Franklin and Thomas Jefferson
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REPUBLICANISM, LIBERALISM, DEISM—Influences this had on
religion and the church
Now- What was the Great
Awakening?

Great Awakening is referred to as a period
of religious revival in American religious
history.
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First of four waves of increased religious
enthusiasm beginning began in the 1720s
and lasted to about 1750.

was characterized by widespread revivals
led by evangelical Protestant ministers, a
A little extra- just because!
Half-Way Covenant
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a form of partial church membership created by New England in 1662
promoted in particular by the Reverend Solomon Stoddard, who felt that the
people of the English colonies were drifting away from their original religious
purpose
First-generation settlers were beginning to die out, while their children and
grandchildren often expressed less religious piety, and more desire for material
wealth.
Full membership in the tax-supported Puritan church required an account of a
conversion experience, and only persons in full membership could have their own
children baptized. Second and third generations, and later immigrants, did not
have the same conversion experiences. These individuals were thus not accepted
as members despite leading otherwise pious and upright Christian lives.
provided a partial church membership for the children and grandchildren of
church members. Those who accepted the Covenant and agreed to follow the
creed within the church could participate in the Lord's supper. Crucially, the halfway covenant provided that the children of holders of the covenant could be
baptized in the church. These partial members, however, couldn't accept
communion or vote
Puritan preachers hoped that this plan would maintain some of the church's
influence in society, and that these 'half-way members' would see the benefits of
full membership, be exposed to teachings and piety which would lead to the
"born again" experience and eventually take the full oath of allegiance.