Differences Between The Enlightenment And Great Awakening

At the conclusion of the French and Indian war all seemed fine and well between the American and the British, but many American colonists still felt uneasy about the control Britain had over them throughout the next few years. The first incident that sparked unhappiness among colonists was religious and intellectual movements like the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening. The Enlightenment stressed reason and rationality. It thought ideas should be based on solid scientific facts rather than supernatural justifications, which created the new religion of “deism”. The Great Awakening focused on the split between Evangelicals and Rationalists and was followed by a wave of religious revivals. Most importantly the Great Awakening brought to light a debate over the relation the church had with the state and the fear that the government was corrupting religion which sent colonists looking for a reinvigorated religious experience (Chapter 4, IV). Both the Enlightenment and Great Awakening were extremely important because they encouraged the colonists to question the validity and influence of those in power and stand up for themselves and their liberties. They realized that Britain had a lot of supremacy over them. They …show more content…
The colonies were fed up with the control the British had upon them. They believed there were many conspiracies going on behind their backs and that the royal crown was trying to take away their freedom from all the policies and restrictions that were implemented. This belief in ideology was inspired by a chain of events that the British executed, which included increased taxes on a number of items, the invention of “virtual representation”, and the corruption happening in the British government like multiple office holding and the implementation of “placemen”. All of these acts were examples of the British’s abuse of power, giving the colonists no choice but to be reliant on