LITR 4326 Early American Literature Research Posts 2016 (research post assignment) Research Post 2

Kelly Arnold

The Who’s and What’s of The First Great Awakening

     Growing up I always knew that there was a God. I didn’t want to believe it at times, but I knew deep in my heart that God existed. In the last twelve years I have rooted myself in the Christian faith, and experienced God in ways that are at times unexplainable. Throughout these last twelve years, I would hear people casually mention “The Great Awakening”, or the next Great Awakening. I was unsure of what they were talking about, and it’s sad to say I never did my due diligence to research what it was. When we were given the opportunity to do these research posts, I knew I wanted to find out more about “The Great Awakening” and who was involved.

     In my research I discovered that the First Great Awakening began across the Atlantic Ocean in England, back in the early to mid 1700’s. The main person in England who sparked the revival was John Wesley.  This religious revival began in the New England Colonies by Jonathan Edwards, but things took off when George Whitefield arrived from England. George Whitefield had worked closely with John Wesley for years. When Mr. Whitefield arrived in the Colonies he began preaching. He traveled all over the colonies and preached in open fields. His meetings drew huge crowds of people and churches could not contain them.

      My question here would be what drew so many people to these meetings? People from all over would come to these meetings where George Whitefield would shout the Word of God, and weep and tremble with passion as he spoke. These messages gave people a personal revelation of their need for salvation through Jesus Christ. The Great Awakening broke free from the ritual and ceremonial services people were used to, and moved more into a personal experience with God. People were in awe of the messages being spoken. At the time there were moderate and radical evangelicals, but these meetings brought them together. “Kidd argues that, that despite their differences, moderate and radical evangelicals were united by a common culture of evangelicalism—a shared acceptance of the power of the Holy Spirit—that differed only in degree.” (Blosser, 147).

     The First Great Awakening brought about a personal freedom in religion, which set the tone going into the Revolutionary war. People didn’t just look at religion or faith as a group coming together, but something that was now personal and relevant in their lives. What I find interesting is that there was a Second Great Awakening later that century, and Dr. White mentioned the Third Great Awakening that happened in California back in the early 1900’s. So these Great Awakenings seem to keep happening. People, myself included, still believe that God is in control and are praying for more of him in our nation and world. The question now is will we see a Fourth Great Awakening?

Work Cited:

Blosser, J. M.. (2009). [Review of THE GREAT AWAKENING: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America]. American Studies, 50(1/2), 146–147. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41057189

"Basic Concepts of the First Great Awakening - Great-Awakening.com." GreatAwakeningcom. Web. 09 Apr. 2016. <http://www.great-awakening.com/the-great-awakening-2/basic-concepts-of-the-first-great-awakening/>.

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Great Awakening." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 09 Apr. 2016. http://www.britannica.com/event/Great-Awakening

"The Great Awakening." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association. Web. 09 Apr. 2016. <http://www.ushistory.org/us/7b.asp>.

"Terms & Themes." Terms & Themes. Dr. Craig White. Web. 09 Apr. 2016.