The Role Of Religion In The Great Awakening

The Great Awakening was a time period between the 1730s and the 1750s in which colonists once again became wildly interested in religion. The newfound interest in faith became the driving force behind many of their plans, such as some of the universities that were created during that time. The Great Awakening united the colonists under the same idea and eventually led to a desire for independence from England. It encouraged the spread of religion, inspired the beginnings of an American Identity, and allowed the colonists to realize that they held power over religion and could hold power over the government itself. The spread of religion during this time period was massive. New denominations of Christianity were created, which caused a surge in religious pluralism. Each domination was bent on converting new people to their religion. That competitiveness between denominations ensured that no denomination could rule over all others. Without the possibility of a dominant religion, the competitiveness between the denominations would never have an ending meaning that religious
The creation of new denominations may have separated the beliefs of the colonists, but the newfound freedom of religion formed a separation between England and the colonies. Even with religious toleration in England, the official Church of England still had extreme power over the government and how it was run. Whereas England had one official religion that ruled over all citizens, the colonies formed around the idea of multiple religions sharing leadership. Colonists were still expected to follow the rules of a church, but they reserved the right to split off from a church without permission. That right – which one could not have in England – inspired the beginnings of a new, unified identity for the American people and showed these new Americans that they had more power than they