The Great Awakening Dbq

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The 18th century was not just a time of great religious change in the American colonies but all over Europe as well. Evangelism was religious reaction to the age of enlightenment, “a new Age of Faith rose to counter the currents of the Age of Enlightenment, to reaffirm the view that being truly religious meant trusting the heart rather than the head” (Heyrman). In America, when the Great Awakening began colonist were still worried about the, “economic and political uncertainty accompanying King George’s War” (Norton 101). It was also a time of political, religious, class, and racial oppression. All of this things left the people of America ready and willing for change. The Great Awakening revivalism and its leaders, like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield, brought the profound change colonist were seeking. During the 1700, both enlightened and religious books were being printed. Throughout, the Great awakening, evangelist books became popular among colonist. It is said that evangelist George Whitfield was Americas first …show more content…
Evangelist preachers called all people to convert, regardless of social status or race. The Great Awakening was, “A cross denomination event” (Bullock). It was the first time, “slave and free, black and white, educated uneducated, you’ve got highborn or commoners…all these different kinds of people standing shoulder to shoulder in the same ground hearing the same gospel” (Marshal).. It also brought about broad religious tolerance. Many traditional religious leaders objected to the evangelist teachings, which created splits and caused animosity among religious groups. These splits, eventually, lead to tolerance and religious diversity, because, “no single sect could make an unequivocal claim to orthodoxy, they had to co-exist to survive” (Norton 101). The awakening used religion to break down boarders between all