RELIGION IN EARLY AMERICA: WHAT SHOULD WE KNOW?
American Puritanism
Early in the 17th century some Puritan groups separated from the Church of England. Among these were the Pilgrims, who
in 1620 founded Plymouth Colony. Ten years later, under the auspices of the Massachusetts Bay Company, the first major
Puritan migration to New England took place. The Puritans brought strong religious impulses to bear in all colonies north
of Virginia, but New England was their stronghold, and the Congregationalist churches established there were able to
perpetuate their viewpoint about a Christian society for more than 200 years. Richard Mather and John Cotton provided
clerical leadership in the dominant Puritan colony planted on Massachusetts Bay. Thomas Hooker was an example of those
who settled new areas farther west according to traditional Puritan standards. Even though he broke with the authorities
of the Massachusetts colony over questions of religious freedom, Roger Williams was also a true Puritan in his zeal for
personal godliness and doctrinal correctness. Most of these men held ideas in the mainstream of Calvinistic thought. In
addition to believing in the absolute sovereignty of God, the total depravity of man, and the complete dependence of
human beings on divine grace for salvation, they stressed the importance of personal religious experience. These Puritans
insisted that they, as God's elect, had the duty to direct national affairs according to God's will as revealed in the Bible. This
union of church and state to form a holy commonwealth gave Puritanism direct and exclusive control over most colonial
activity until commercial and political changes forced them to relinquish it at the end of the 17th century.
Because of its diffuse nature, when Puritanism began to decline in America is difficult to say. Some would hold that it lost
its influence in New England by the early 18th century, but Jonathan Edwards and his able disciple Samuel Hopkins revived
Puritan thought and kept it alive until 1800. Others would point to the gradual decline in power of Congregationalism, but
Presbyterians under the leadership of Jonathan Dickinson and Baptists led by the example of Isaac Backus (1724 - 1806)
revitalized Puritan ideals in several denominational forms through the 18th century. During the whole colonial period
Puritanism had direct impact on both religious thought and cultural patterns in America. In the 19th century its influence
was indirect, but it can still be seen at work stressing the importance of education in religious leadership and demanding
that religious motivations be tested by applying them to practical situations.
ORIGINS OF THE GREAT AWAKENING
In late 17th Century England, fighting between religious and political groups ended with the Glorious Revolution of 1688
when the Church of England was established as the primary religion of the country. Other religions, such as Catholicism,
Judaism, and Puritanism were then repressed. From a political perspective, all was well because everyone practiced the
same religion. But rather than being good for religion, this created complacency, or a sense of spiritual "dryness" among
citizens. Religion became a boring and cold pastime for them. Eventually, a reaction against this complacency developed
into a new spiritualism - or "revivalism" - where Christians would actually believe from the depths of their hearts during
worship, rather than just go through the motions during services. This new spiritual renewal began with people like the
Wesley brothers and George Whitefield in England and crossed over to the American Colonies during the first half of the
18th Century.
THE GREAT AWAKENING IN AMERICA
The Great Awakening was a spiritual renewal that swept the American Colonies, particularly New England, during the first
half of the 18th Century. It began in England before catching fire across the Atlantic. Unlike the somber, largely Puritan
spirituality of the early 1700s, the revivalism ushered in by the Awakening brought people back to "spiritual life" as they
felt a greater intimacy with God. The Awakening's biggest significance was the way it prepared America for its War of
Independence. In the decades before the war, revivalism taught people that they could be bold when confronting
religious authority, and that when churches weren't living up to the believers' expectations, the people could break off
and form new ones. Through the Awakening, the Colonists realized that religious power resided in their own hands,
rather than in the hands of the Church of England, or any other religious authority. After a generation or two passed with
this kind of mindset, the Colonists came to realize that political power did not reside in the hands of the English monarch,
but in their own will for self-governance (consider thewording of the Declaration of Independence). By 1775, even though
the Colonists did not all share the same theological beliefs, they did share a common vision of freedom from British
control. Thus, the Great Awakening brought about a climate which made the American Revolution possible.
GORDON WOOD ON THE IMPACT OF THE GREAT AWAKENING
“Although the Great Awakening commonly represented an effort by people to bring some order to their disrupted lives,
its implications were radical, especially since supernatural religion remained for most ordinary people, if not for the
enlightened gentry, the major means of explaining the world. By challenging clerical unity, shattering the communal
churches, and cutting people loose from ancient religious bonds, the religious revivals became in one way or another a
massive defiance of traditional authority. . . . The burden of people’s new religious attachments now rested clearly on
themselves and their individual decisions. Such conditional loyalties could contribute little to the deferential faith and
obedience on which monarchy ultimately rested.”
The Radicalism of the American Revolution (1991) pp. 144-145
THE SECOND GREAT AWAKENING
The Second Great Awakening was a religious revival that occurred in the United States beginning in the late eighteenth
century and lasted until the middle of the nineteenth century. While it occurred in all parts of the United States, it was
especially strong in the Northeast and the Midwest. By the late 1700s, many Americans no longer regularly attended
church services. This occurred for several reasons. Some people now believed that God did not play an important role in
everyday life. God also supposedly was not concerned with a person's church attendance; rather, God would judge the
person on how he or she had lived his or her life on Earth. Other people had become too consumed with earning a living
to have time to worship God.
As a result of declining religious convictions, many religious faiths sponsored religious revivals. These revivals
emphasized human beings' dependence upon God. Most of the religious revivals occurred as camp meetings. Adherents
and interested parties would spend several days hearing the word of God from various religious leaders. While these
services were very emotional, they did not become hysterical gatherings as many earlier revivals had become. They also
served as social gatherings. Many Americans living on the frontier did not have regular contact with their neighbors. The
revivals allowed these people an opportunity to hear God's word, but they also provided rural families an opportunity to
talk and trade with other people.
Perhaps the most influential evangelist of the Second Great Awakening was Charles Finney. He began to spread his
message in western New York during the early 1820s. In 1835, he became a professor of theology at Oberlin College in
Ohio. He eventually served as Oberlin College's president. Numerous religious groups benefited from the Second Great
Awakening. Baptists and Methodists found the largest number of converts, swelling their numbers across the United
States including in Ohio. New religious groups also resulted from the revivals. These groups did not find true happiness
with the already established faiths and created their own doctrine. One of these groups was the Mormons. The revivals
encouraged people to return to God. Americans should dedicate their lives to God and to living in a Godly manner. As a
result, church attendance increased during the first half of the nineteenth century. A desire to reform America also
arose among the people. Attempts to limit alcohol consumption and to abolish slavery came directly out of the Second
Great Awakening and its message.
SO, HERE’S A QUESTION THAT FORCES YOU TO SEE PARALLELS OVER TIME:
Analyze the ways in which two of the following influenced the development of American
society:
Puritanism during the late 17th Century
The Great Awakening during the 18th Century
The Second Great Awakening during the 19th Century