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Steven Bucher
Mr. Herrmann, Mr. Rutherford
AP U.S. History Per 4
2 September 2015
The First Great Awakening
Why did the Great Awakening happen when it did? It began around the 1730s and was
immensely popular up until the 1740s but for what reason? There is seemingly many reasons and
factors that go into what created the spark of new freedoms and liberal ideas. Through a
combination of lost interest in religion, generation gaps and other political and social events, the
Great Awakening was able to catch on and significantly change the American Colonies.
One possibility for the start of the Awakening is recent political and religious merging in
England. After the Glorious Revolution in 1688, the Church of England was established as the
state-religion in England. As a political standpoint it was predicted to help unite the people under
one common idea but instead of being a positive driving force for religious belief in general, it
created complacency and spiritual dryness among believers(great-awakening.com). It wasnt
until many years later did this dryness reach the Americas but when it did, it got people think
about what would make religion better and more alive. The Awakening was late reaction to the
political events and their effects on England.
It was a perfect time for a dryness to take place in the colonies because there was less
of a reliability on religion in regards to survival. During the beginnings of the colonies, most are
products of religious endeavors, and religion played a key part in the hope of survival for the
colonists. Religion was less fervid in the early eighteenth century than it had been a century
earlier, when the colonies were first planted (American Pageant 87). Since people were no

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longer concerned with survival, they did not need to turn to religion for hope and safeguard thus
resulting in the flow of new ideas to meet the needs of the colonists at the time; ideas of liberty,
freedom, and growth.
The economy of the colonies was also growing and becoming more stable. In the
century after 1650, the colonies enjoyed extraordinary economic growth. scholars estimate
that American colonists may have enjoyed the highest standard of living in the world by the time
of the Revolution(shmoop.com) As the economy grew more people became concerned with
money rather than religion. Some of the religious doctrine restricts the economic growth one can
achieve so these individuals began to think of new ideas that could get them what they want in
regards to income and economy.
Also at this point in the colonies, new generations are growing up in the strict religious
society and see it as oppressive and unfair. They latch on to the new ideas of religious freedom
and liberty ultimately making the Awakening possible through its popularity. Without them small
ideas of liberty would have never caught interest with the public and ultimately die as an
unknown part of history. Although this might not seem like a true start of the Awakening, without
the youths influence and ability to make it popular and well-known, the ideas of the Awakening
might have been lost.
If it werent for these political, social and economic events all aligning in the right time,
there would be no Great Awakening in America. All these events and reactions each played a
vital part in the success of the Awakening. Although none of these events specifically correlate to
1730, they each align around this time due to reaction time and long term events. Together they
all formulate the basis of what caused the Great Awakening in American and ultimately a world
changing event.

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Work Cited
Basic Concepts of the First Great Awakening - Great-Awakening.com. (n.d.). Retrieved
September 1, 2015.

CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS FOUNDATION Bill of Rights in Action. (n.d.). Retrieved


September 1, 2015.

Kennedy, D., & Cohen, L. (2013). The American pageant: A history of the American people
(15th ed.). Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Shmoop Editorial Team. (2008, November 11). Economy in The American Revolution.
Retrieved September 1, 2015.

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