Lesson 1: The First Great Awakening

In the middle of the 18th century, colonial America experienced its first major religious revival, a movement that historians would come to call the First Great Awakening. The Awakening was not the work of one man or a single organized group. Its various leaders, in fact, created no single set of doctrines or organizational structure. The Awakening was a more general series of religious evangelical revivals led by itinerant preachers who emphasized personal faith rather than conformity to doctrine. Preachers of the Awakening also taught that the essence of religious experience was a "new birth" inspired by the preaching of the Word of God—that is, a personal spiritual conversion in which the individual rejected his or her sinful past and was "born again" into a life devoted to Christianity.

As the above video illustrates, the Great Awakening was also characterized by the emotional enthusiasm of its participants (e.g. weeping, fainting), which stood in contrast to the more staid and formal worship of traditional Anglican and Congregational services.The evangelical spirit of the mid-eighteenth century that animated the First Great Awakening also swept through parts of Europe. In the Protestant cultures of England, Scotland and Germany, enthusiastic faith rose in response to the rationalism of the time. As explained by historian Christine Leigh Heyrman, "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, prizing feeling more than thinking, and relying on biblical revelation rather than human reason." (from Heyrman's essay "The First Great Awakening," located at the EDSITEment-reviewed resource TeacherServe). The First Great Awakening might also be seen as a Christian appropriation of certain aspects of the Enlightenment, such as emphasis on the individual, reliance on experience instead of authority, and mistrust of tradition.

Five of the First Great Awakening's most important preachers were Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Theodore Freylinghuysen, and William and Gilbert Tennent. Because of their central role and importance, we shall limit our discussion here to Edwards (1703-1758) and Whitefield (1714-1770).

The only son in a family of eleven children, Jonathan Edwards succeeded his maternal grandfather as pastor of a church in Northampton, Massachusetts in 1728. In 1737, he published A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God, his account of the extraordinary religious revival that began in his church in Northampton in 1734 and other nearly communities. That revival is considered to be a harbinger of the Great Awakening, which began in earnest a few years later. In 1746, Edwards published his first major treatise, Religious Affections, which both defended the Great Awakening and criticized what he considered to be the movement's excesses. These published accounts are why Edwards is considered to be "the principal intellectual interpreter of, and apologist for, the Awakening" (from "Religion and the Founding of the American Republic," accessible via the EDSITEment-reviewed web resource, American Memory). After being dismissed from his position as pastor at Northampton in 1750 (by a vote of one, for his discipline of young people for reading "immoral" literature and for his refusal to give communion to unconverted church members), Edwards supervised a boarding school for Indian boys and completed several major theological works. He is generally considered one of America's most important and most original philosophical theologians. Shortly after being appointed president of Princeton University, Edwards died after contracting smallpox in 1758.

One of the most popular evangelists of the Great Awakening, George Whitefield was born the son of innkeepers in Gloucester, England in 1714. In 1738 he traveled to Georgia, the first of seven trips to America. In 1739, after a year-long return to London where he was ordained as a minister in the Church of England, Whitefield traveled to Philadelphia. His popularity when he left the city was so great that his farewell sermon had to be moved to an open field in order to accommodate the enormous crowd. A sermon in Boston reportedly was attended by 30,000 people, which was more than the entire population of the city at the time. Whitefield was known for his lively and dramatic preaching. According to historian Harry S. Stout, "He was not 'acting' as he preached so much as he was exhibiting a one-to-one correspondence between his inner passions and the biblical saints he embodied" (Harry S. Stout, The Divine Dramatist: George Whitefield and the Rise of Modern Evangelicalism (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1991), 106). In his sermons, Whitefield spoke out against established churches, encouraging colonists to seek a revived form of Puritanism that did not require institutional churches. He also preached about the spirituality of American slaves, encouraging slave owners to acknowledge their slaves' spiritual freedom. He traveled throughout the colonies, from Georgia to New England, winning admirers and adherents, including Benjamin Franklin. After delivering over 18,000 sermons in his lifetime, Whitefield died in 1770 in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

The Great Awakening led several Protestant denominations to support missionaries who aimed to convert Native Americans to Christianity, especially in New England and the mid-Atlantic region. This marked something of a turn in many colonists' dispositions toward Native Americans, as evangelizing Native Americans was not a primary concern among seventeenth-century colonial churches in English North America. During that earlier time, many Native Americans were hesitant to embrace what they considered an alien religion. Often from the colonists' perspective, as historian James H. Merrell puts it, "it proved easier to kill Indians than convert them." (James H. Merrell, "'The Customes of Our Countrey,': Indians and Colonists in Early America," in Strangers Within the Realm: Cultural Margins of the First British Empire, ed. Bernard Bailyn and Philip D. Morgan (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991), 152). Nevertheless, while there were some genuine efforts to convert Native Americans to Christianity, established churches showed relatively little interest in doing so as a long-term proposition, and ultimately only a small fraction of Indians abandoned their ancestral religions.

Although the First Great Awakening lasted no more than a generation in New England, it brought with it lasting changes. It left a legacy of theological disputes and divisions between its supporters, "New Lights," and its opponents, "Old Lights," who criticized the emotional, non-rational aspects of the Awakening. The Awakening also led to the creation of new colleges—including Princeton, Brown, and Rutgers—to train "New Light" ministers. In the 1760s, supporters carried the spirit of the Great Awakening to the southern colonies, beginning a series of revivals there. The Baptist and Methodist churches were among its most important products.

Additional background information can be found at: National Humanities Center Toolbox Library - Primary Resources in U.S. History and Literature, Religion II: The Great Awakening;  "Divining America," from the EDSITEment-reviewed website TeacherServe including online resources on "The First Great Awakening"; "Religion and the Founding of the American Republic," accessible via the EDSITEment-reviewed American Memory Project; "The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University," accessible via the EDSITEment-reviewed resource History Matters; and under the "Jonathan Edwards" entry at the EDSITEment-reviewed Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Questions to consider while reviewing these materials include:

• Why were colonists responsive to the preaching of Whitefield, Edwards, and others?
• Why were churches (including ministers) ready to adopt a more evangelical approach?
• What were the social, economic, and political conditions that might have had an impact on people at this time?

NCSS.D1.2.9-12. Explain points of agreement and disagreement experts have about interpretations and applications of disciplinary concepts and ideas associated with a compelling question.

NCSS.D2.His.1.9-12. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.

NCSS.D2.His.2.9-12. Analyze change and continuity in historical eras.

NCSS.D2.His.3.9-12. Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context.

NCSS.D2.His.4.9-12. Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.

NCSS.D2.His.5.9-12. Analyze how historical contexts shaped and continue to shape people’s perspectives.

NCSS.D2.His.12.9-12. Use questions generated about multiple historical sources to pursue further inquiry and investigate additional sources.

NCSS.D2.His.14.9-12. Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past.

NCSS.D2.His.15.9-12. Distinguish between long-term causes and triggering events in developing a historical argument.

NCSS.D2.His.16.9-12. Integrate evidence from multiple relevant historical sources and interpretations into a reasoned argument about the past.

Review the lesson plan. Locate and bookmark suggested materials and links from EDSITEment-reviewed websites used in this lesson. Download and print out selected documents and duplicate copies as necessary for student viewing. Alternatively, excerpted versions of these documents are available as part of the downloadable PDF file.

Download the Text Document for this lesson, available here as a PDF. This file contains excerpted versions of the documents used in all three activities, as well as questions for students to answer. Print out and make an appropriate number of copies of the handouts you plan to use in class.

Analyzing primary sources—If your students lack experience in dealing with primary sources, you might use one or more preliminary exercises to help them develop these skills. The Learning Page at the American Memory Project of the Library of Congress includes a set of such activities. Another useful resource is the Educator Resources of the National Archives, which features a set of Document Analysis Worksheets.

Activity 1. Jonathan Edwards

The first activity will introduce students to Jonathan Edwards, a leading preacher of the Great Awakening. Students will analyze Edwards' sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" in order to identify major themes of the Great Awakening.

1. Direct students to read the background information on Jonathan Edwards and the Great Awakening found at "Religion in 18th-Century America," linked from the EDSITEment-reviewed American Memory Project. Excerpts are available on page 3 of the Text Document that accompanies this lesson.
2. Provide students with the excerpt from Edwards' sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," provided on pages 4-5 of the Text Document. (The full text of the sermon can be found at Yale University's Jonathan Edwards Center, accessible via the EDSITEment-reviewed resource History Matters. Note that this reading should be taught with care, as it is likely to contain material that will run contrary to some students' beliefs. Have one student read the excerpt aloud and explain as the sermon is read that the class should keep in mind the following questions:
   1. In what context (at what time and in what place) did Edwards deliver this sermon?
   2. Who would have represented Edwards' "ideal" audience?
   3. What message does Edwards convey in this passage?
   4. What reactions do Edwards' carefully crafted images attempt to evoke?
   5. Did Edwards employ vocabulary with which are you unfamiliar? If so, use a dictionary to look up any unfamiliar terms.
3. Allow time for the students to work individually or in groups to complete the chart on pages 4-5 of the Text Document. This chart will ask them to identify the images that Edwards used in the sermon and what they were meant to signify. As they complete the chart, encourage the students to reflect upon the questions discussed as a class in the previous step.
4. Place the students into two-person groups to compare and contrast their charts from the previous step and, using their answers as a starting point, formulate a generalization about the meaning and significance of Edwards' sermon.

Activity 2. George Whitefield

The second activity will introduce students to George Whitefield, another leading preacher of the Great Awakening. Students will learn about how colonial Americans reacted to the preaching of the Great Awakening. Students will analyze a diary account of a colonial farmer who described hearing the news of Whitefield's approach to his Connecticut town.

1. Instruct students to read: "The Great Awakening Comes to Weathersfield, Connecticut: Nathan Cole's Spiritual Travels" (from the EDSITEment-reviewed resource History Matters), a primary document about a Connecticut farmer's encounter with George Whitefield.
2. Provide students with background regarding George Whitefield using the materials from the "Background Information for the Teacher" section and from the web resource "Religion in 18th Century America" (this excerpt has been included on page 3 of the Text Document) linked from the EDSITEment-reviewed web resource, American Memory.
3. Direct the students to respond to the following questions (available in worksheet form on page 6 of the Text Document):
   1. Why do you think average farmers such as Nathaniel Cole stopped what they were doing and traveled great distances to witness George Whitefield speak?
   2. What message does Cole's statement, "I saw that my righteousness would not save me; then I was convinced of the doctrine of Election and went right to quarrelling with God about it, because all that I could do would not save me" reveal about Whitefield's teachings?
   3. After reading this passage, what conclusion can you draw about the religious practices and beliefs of the Great Awakening?

Activity 3. Samsom Occom, Indian Minister

This activity will have students examine Sansom Occom's short autobiography, in which he describes his difficulties in making a living, his experiences as an Indian minister, and his poor treatment at the hands of the religious establishment. Occom (sometimes spelled Occum) is one of the most historically significant Native Americans who converted during the Great Awakening. In 1740, at the age of sixteen, he met Eleazar Wheelock, an enthusiastic Congregational preacher and a notable missionary to Native Americans. At the age of twenty, Occom went to live with Wheelock. After four years under Wheelock's tutelage, Occom departed to start his own work as a Christian missionary to Indians in New England and on Long Island. Occom was officially ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1759 on Long Island. In 1769, with funds partially raised by Occom, Wheelock founded Dartmouth College. The founding charter of Dartmouth declared one of the college's purposes to be "the education and instruction of Youth of the Indian Tribes in this Land ... and also of English Youth and any others."

1. Read aloud the preface to Samsom Occom's autobiography "I believe It Is Because I Am a Poor Indian"
2. Direct the students to categorize Samsom Occom's autobiography according to "Major Events," "Religious Practices or Influences," and "Occom's Personal Reflections." Have students complete the worksheet located on page 8 of the Text Document to help them better comprehend the three time periods outlined in his autobiography:
   1. From my Birth till I received the Christian Religion
   2. From the Time of our Reformation till I left Mr. Wheelocks
   3. From the Time I left Mr. Wheelock till I went to Europe
3. Instruct the students to complete the worksheet on pages 9-10 of the Text Document. Distribute the chart. Read question #1 aloud and ask the students to write it on their charts. Give the students three to five minutes to write written responses. Then give the students three to five minutes to share their responses with their partners. Discuss the answers as a class. Repeat the same strategy using questions 2, 3, and 4.
   1. What questions would you ask Occom in order to better understand his personal and professional experiences?
   2. What information would enhance your understanding of Occom's religious practices compared to those of other ministers during the Great Awakening?
   3. Do you agree with Occom's conclusion that his status as a "poor Indian" detracted from his ability to influence the Indian population as well as his religious superiors? Use evidence from the text to support your argument.
   4. In many ways Occom is an extraordinary figure, since no more than a small fraction of Native Americans converted to Christianity. Why do you think this was the case?

Having completed this lesson, students should be asked to write a five-paragraph essay that discusses and analyzes the ideas, beliefs, and practices of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield and that discusses the impact that the Great Awakening had on Samsom Occom and individuals like Nathaniel Cole. Students' essays should draw information from the three primary documents already used in this lesson: "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," "The Great Awakening Comes to Weathersfield, Connecticut," and Samsom Occom's autobiography, "I Believe It Is Because I Am a Poor Indian."

In addition, students should be asked to identify and explain the significance of the following:

• First Great Awakening
• Jonathan Edwards
• George Whitefield
• Samsom Occom

Ask the class to discuss the implications and significance of Edwards' sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" from EDSITEment-reviewed Voices of Democracy using such questions as: "Why did people listen to Edwards? Why did his preaching provoke such a response?" Students may reference the critical essay, Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (8 July 1741) by Jonathan J. Edwards of Northwestern University from Voices of Democracy to determine how this sermon is "grounded in the concerns and struggles of its time."

To deepen students' understanding of "The Great Awakening Comes to Weathersfield, Connecticut: Nathan Cole's Spiritual Travels," teachers may wish to use a role-playing exercise. Divide the class into groups of two, and have one member of each group take on the role of Nathan Cole, while the other plays the part of a farmer who did not hear Whitefield's sermon. The two should then hold a conversation in which the former tries to convince the latter that he or she should attend a similar sermon.

Selected EDSITEment Websites

• TeacherServe
  • Divining America: Religion and National Culture
  • The Great Awakening
• American Memory Project, Library of Congress
  • Religion in 18th Century America
• History Matters
  • The Great Awakening Comes to Weathersfield, Connecticut: Nathan Cole's Spiritual Travels
  • "I Believe It Is Because I Am a Poor Indian": Samsom Occom's Life as an Indian Minister
  • The Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University
    • Biography
    • "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"
• National Humanities Center Toolbox Library - Primary Resources in U.S. History and Literature
• Religion II: The Great Awakening
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy 
• Jonathan Edwards
• Voices of Democracy
• Jonathan Edwards, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," 8 July 1741
• Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (8 July 1741) by Jonathan J. Edwards