The Great Awakening

The Great Awakening
By Denis Mueller

During the period from 1800-1840 there was a great religious awakening in the United States. It was a religious movement that transformed the American landscape by converting common folk to a different way of looking at religion. Unlike the strict Calvinist religions of the east, which had been the backbone of Christianity during the 17th and 18th centuries, the new awakening did not ascribe to the theory of predestination. The new religion gave religious expression to the increasing popular impulse of the new nation.

Evangelical sects such as the Methodists and the Baptists empathized personal heartfelt experiences, which then produced spiritual rebirth. Salvation no longer depended on a merciless God, as taught by the Calvinists, but now ordinary people could choose salvation; they could be saved. This led to mass meetings where hundreds of people were converted, causing one preacher to say, "At one time I saw at least 500 swept down in a moment, as if a battery of a thousand guns opened upon them and then immediately followed shrieks and shouts that shook the very heavens."

The revival meetings converted twice as many women as men. The religious awakening offered women something other than the drudgery from "being treated like beasts of burden and drudges of dominating masters," said a Connecticut minister. Women dominated many church related charities and missionaries. For the first time institutional care was given to the poor and needy. It was during this time that the first charities formed.

Women came, in ever increasing numbers, to become part of the abolitionist movement. They demanded equality within the abolitionist movement and this rejection led to the formation of women's groups who longed for their own freedom. These forays into the public arena were characterized by some as unwomanly, but their involvement grew nevertheless.

In the early days of the awakening, slaves were welcomed at the revivals and asked to participate. The new movement advocated secular and spiritual equality, thereby challenging the institution of slavery. This led directly to the formation
of the black church, which became an instrument for hope and, almost a century and a half later, for social change. The slaves saw similarities between themselves and the people of Moses. The Jesus they saw was a compassionate savior who shared their burden and offered the hope of the promised land. By blending the biblical image of the promised land with justice, the slaves expressed their yearnings to be free. The movement now had become a threat.

Like the political reforms of the time, the evangelical movement was compromised by a hierarchy that saw these revivals as dangerous. Pro slavery arguments soon replaced the cries of equality and religion then began to sanction human bondage. Still the movement opened up the intellectual barrier of thought within the United States. The "Great Awakening" helped remove a major block to political democracy. No longer would the mass of humanity be seen as sinners with no hope. Salvation was opened to all and this reinforced the legitimacy of the idea of "one man, one vote." The door of equality had been opened.