During the 1730s and 1740s, an intense religious revival, called the 1st Great Awakening, swept through the American colonies. This religious revival was very emotional and intense and was spurred by two famous preachers, Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield. These two preachers and many others were worried that their parishioners had become lazy and soft. This 1st Great Awakening gave Americans a shared sense of identity and it also impacted Americans themselves and their views on religion.

A picture of the Great Revivalist Jonathan Edwards

The 1st Great Awakening was caused by several factors. Religion in the colonies was less fervid in the eighteenth century than in the seventeenth century because there was less religious persecution. In the previous century, many parishioners strongly promoted their faith because they had to remain strong while battling with dissenters. Many churchgoers complained about the Puritan ministers that droned the boring and monotonous sermons, and realized that it was time for a change. Some ministers worried that the souls of the parishioners “were no longer kindled by the hellfire of orthodox Calvinism”(Bailey, 94). The ministers thought that the churchgoers had become soft and that their souls would be damned if they forgot about the almighty and powerful God.

A picture of Reverend George Whitefield giving a sermon

The Great Awakening was first rooted in Northhampton, Massachusetts by a very intelligent pastor by the name of Jonathan Edwards. Edwards negated the fact that salvation could be attained through good works, emphasizing that the only way to salvation was depending on God’s grace. In his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” he vividly describes the tortures of hell. While describing hell, he said, “It is 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”(handout). Edwards had a very strict preaching style, but it was his vivid imagery of hell that inspired many people to work their hardest to reach salvation. Several years after Edwards began preaching, George Whitefield started a different style of evangelical preaching. Whitefield’s eloquence and extraordinary voice touched the lives of many of his parishioners. He toured the colonies, preaching the word of the Lord. People traveled on treacherous roads from distant towns just to see him preach. Nathan Cole said, “Now it pleased God to send Mr. Whitefield into this land; and my hearing of his preaching at Philadelphia, like one of the old apostles, and many thousands flocking to hear him preach the Gospel, and great numbers were converted to Christ, I felt the Spirit of God drawing me by conviction; I longed to see and hear him and wished he would come this way”(handout). During his sermons, those that were “saved” shrieked in exaltation and those that were sinners became completely scared, dreading their inevitable fate. Edwards and Whitefield cause many sinners to pronounce conversion. Their distinct preaching styles pave the road for an intense religious revival and made many people recognize the importance of God in their lives.

The 1st Great Awakening had many lasting effects on American society. Many orthodox clergymen in America were “deeply skeptical of the emotionalism and the theatrical antics of the revivalists”(Bailey, 95). Many believers of conversion went to the Baptist Church where they could emotionally pronounce thanks to God. Church attendance increased due to the amount of new members. Competition between churches arose as the hunt for new members took hold. Education was emphasized because children needed to read the Bible. Colleges like Harvard, Yale, and the College of William and Mary were set up. Those that wanted to be ministers and priests had to go to one of these newly founded colleges so they could be trained to preach in the new churches that were springing up in nearly every town. The 1st Great Awakening greatly impacted the lives of those that did not pronounce conversion also. These people now got a chance to go to school and get an education because so many new ones were being established. Also missionary work was set up among the Indians and slaves to try to make them see the light in God. This religious revival created a shared sense of identity in America. This was the first mass movement of the American people. This religious revival tended to break down the differences in people and in denominations, making them realize that they were a big community of people with a common history.

Harvard University

The 1st Great Awakening was an extremely emotional revival that affected both those that experienced conversion and those that did not. Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield revitalized sermons caused sinners to experience conversion. Americans also retained the religious passion that was thought to be lost. This enormous religious resurgence gave Americans a shared sense of identity and changed the way they lived and viewed religion.