Rogers 1 Gavin Rogers Mrs.

Bogart HST 111 October 18, 2013 The Great Awakening Rallies the American War for Independence The religious revival that occurred in the in the 1730s and early 1740s gave many future American rebels the ideology and motive to take up arms against the royal British government of that time. The question that this statement presents is this: How did the Great Awakening, a religious kindling, ignite a fire of rebellion, mutiny, and revolt? This religious outburst inspired many American colonists to lead the Revolutionary War because during these revivals they began to understand that they needed independence from a system of hierarchy, they saw a direct relationship between a republican government and the new denomination of Christianity that they were being taught, and these events inspired Thomas Paine to author the publication entitled Common Sense, which is commonly given the credit of igniting the American Revolution. During the Great Awakening, future American rebels learned that they very simply had to do some things without the help of others. Gary Nash, a graduated doctor of Princeton University, a Pulitzer Prize recipient, and a very well known historian says in a compilation of historical essays, But the multitudes who were moved by the message of the revivalists, in the North in the 1740s and in the South during the next decade, began to believe that it was justifiable in some circumstances to take matters into their own hands, (Oates). This quote, coming from such a respectable historian, is incredibly important in the fact that the Great Awakening sparked ideas of individualism,

Rogers 2 rebellion, and a general idea that this group of people can take care of what is theirs. He says that the multitudes that were moved by the eccentric preaching that was happening in the North in the 1740s, and then in the South later on began to believe that they did not need the help from the clergymen of their church. This undeniably correlates wonderfully with the ideas of separation between the people and their government that these same exact people had later on in 1774 when rebellion began to reveal itself. As these ideas of a new denomination of Christianity that promoted freedom and choice openly wrestled with the Church of England that promoted nothing but the hierarchy of people that were to be put in front of you, Thomas S. Kidd, the author of The Great Awakening, says, Some patriots saw a direct link between Christianity and republicanism, as he argues his point he goes on to write, evangelicals championed republicanism as eagerly as other patriots, (Kidd 23). The Christianity that these colonists were being taught was based on the fact that each citizen under God has his or her own relationship with their Creator. This means that they choose things such as what to pray, when to get baptized, and what can further their faith. This understanding of how people of the time associated this new denomination of Christianity with republicanism furthers our comprehension and appreciation of how the Great Awakening did inspire the events of the Revolutionary War. People were incredibly passionate about what they were being taught about. They were incredibly passionate about the religious freedom and equality that they heard being preached about. The colonists of this time took this extreme passion they had for the religious freedom, and applied it to their government that they were a part of. As they did this, they then understood that the British

Rogers 3 government that they were under was corrupt and unhealthy. This is the reason the American Revolution began. Although Thomas Paine renounced the Christian reform in many of his later publications, the Great Awakening influenced him greatly during his time spent writing Common Sense, which ultimately sparked the American rebels to ignite the Revolutionary War altogether. Paine learns from great speakers that ran the Great Awakening such as George Whitfield, that every man under God was born equal. He understands and interprets this as the fact that there is no one divine family, bloodline, or genealogy. As almost the exact words of George Whitfield flow through the words of Thomas Paine as he composes Common Sense, he writes, As the exalting one man so greatly above the rest cannot be justified on the equal rights of nature, so neither can it be defended on the authority of scripture; for the will of the Almighty as declared by Gideon, and the prophet Samuel, expressly disapproves of government by Kings, (Paine). As we see in this quote, Paine explicitly displays his belief in what men such as Whitfield speak of as he describes what government should look like coming from a biblical prophet. This specific interpretation of Samuel, the prophet, was taught by many of the leading figures during the Great Awakening to explain how we have all been made equal under God and how there is no one that is considered to be divine when compared to anyone else.

The conclusion must contain a reiteration of you thesis, in addition to the broader historical significance your question and evidence represent.

In conclusion, the Great Awakening that happened thirty years prior to the American Revolution is an absolutely essential point to make when discussing the topic.

Rogers 4 Many people give very little, to no credit to the Great Awakening in relation to the American Revolution. But in reality, this grouped religious phenomenon of the Great Awakening really ignited the American Revolution as we know it today by giving American colonists of the time an understanding of the fact that they needed independence from a system of hierarchy, a perspective of a direct relationship between a republican government and the new denomination of Christianity that they were being taught, and the simple fact the events of this religious outburst inspired Thomas Paine to author the publication entitled Common Sense, which is commonly given the credit of igniting the American Revolution.

Rogers 5 Works Cited Kidd, Thomas S. The Great Awakening: A Brief History with Documents. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008. Print.

Noll, Mark A. America's God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. Print.

Oates, Stephen. Errico, Charles. Portrait of America. 1st vol. Stamford: Cengage Learning, 2010. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.

Paine, Thomas. Common Sense. Philadelphia: printed. W. and T. Bradford, 1776. Bartleby.com, 1999. www.bartleby.com/133/. October 14, 2013.