The Great Awakening and its Impact on the Religion of the...

Religion has been around since the discovery of America. Many European immigrants came to America to escape the traditions of the Church of England. The people wanted religious freedom. Most, however, tried to force their religious beliefs on the people who came to settle in their colonies creating a divide. It wasn’t until The Great Awakening, which started in the New England colonies, occurred that people rose up and revolted against the norms of religion and began to worship the way they wanted to. This divisive time period greatly impacted the American colonies by allowing true religious freedom to all the people. Prior to The Great Awakening was a period of time called The Enlightenment. During this time, prominent men†¦show more content†¦The most famous preacher leading the revivals was George Whitefield, whose primary message was that people were saved through God’s grace. He traveled and preached to thousands of people who eventually became â€Å"saved† by God’s grace. This period of time was very divisive because many people were influenced by the revivals, while the others were still committed to the traditional form of religion. This divided the people into two different religious groups; The New Lights, who were â€Å"saved† by the grace of God, and the Old Lights, those who kept faithful to the traditional religions. The New Lights preached that it was dangerous to live life and not become â€Å"saved.† The Old Lights were very opposed to this way of worship and condemned the teachings of the New Lights. The Old Lights in the New England colonies fought back by giving the taxes from the New Lights to their former churches, not allowing New Lights ministers to perform marriage ceremonies, and not allowing New Lights to partake in the legislature. A New Light preacher by the name of Elisha Paine, who was put in prison for preaching illegally continued to preach from his prison cell. Many people would gather to listen to him. Many people in Connecticut sympathized with Paine and his followers, which led to the New Lights winning control over Connecticut’s assembly. Another important accomplishment of the Great Awakening period was women could be leadersShow MoreRelatedThe Great Awakening By Jonathan Edwards1231 Words   |  5 PagesThe Great Awakening was a revival of religion in the early American colonies. Some will say that the awakening had negative effects on the colonies, maybe, but overall I believe the Great Awakening had a positive effect and opened the eyes of the colonist, showing them truths of living in the New World and of things that could come for its future. These effects that the Great Awakening had on the early colonies is greatly studied and looked at, because it was what set the ground work for the religiousRead Morereligion in the colonies773 Words   |  4 Pages Since the very first colony was founded in 1607 in Jamestown, Virginia, religion played a very important role in America. 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