What was the religious revival that swept through the colonies in the late 1730s and 1740s?

The Great Awakening was fueled by people such as George Whitefield, it was a reaction to the Enlightment, the main political trend of the eighteenth century.

What was the Great Awakening?

The Great Awakening was a reaction against the increasing authority and spiritual deadness in the Protestant Churches of the colonies.

The Great Awakening focus on a deep personal need of salvation. Jonathan Edwards stressed that the this salvation was obtained by individual grace alone not by any actions of the organized church.

The teachings of leaders like George Whitefield challenged the established authority of traditional Protestant Churches. Whitefield held his meetings in fields so called campfire meetings not in churches. He encouraged his followers to read the Bible for themselves and make up their own minds.

Samuel Davies defied the established authority by preaching directly to free blacks and slaves. He ordained Black ministers and encouraged the education of slaves.

The Great Awakening like Enlightenment stressed the power of the individual. The Enlightenment stressed people make up their own minds regarding matters of philosophy and politics. The Great Awakening stress the individual personal approach to salvation,and the governance of the church. (Marty Kelly 3/3/2017) These two movements working together helped to bring about the American Revolution.

The Great Awakening brought tens of thousands of people into a renewed personal faith in God. It created new protestant denominations and brought about a more democratic leadership in established churches. The revival had significant impacts on the society of the colonies before the American Revolution. This revival help to lay the ground work for the American Revolution.