The Great Awakening took place in the 1790s to 1840s, in which there were great changes in the Protestant Revivalism. During this time, the New beliefs were competing with the first colonists' conservative religion. Evangelists from various Protestant Denominations such as Presbyterians, Anglicans, and Congregationalists were rejecting the formal mode of worship, which they perceived as sterile for vigorous emotional religion (Stone, 2012). These New Evangelists contradicted the doctrines that were preached and upheld by the old church's leaders, such as the close reading of scriptures.
The new Evangelical ministers were preaching a new message about experiential faith, which surpassed the idea of book learning. In the New message, the young, women, and individuals with low-level status in society were welcome, a case different from the old teaching (Irish, 2018). Thus, the new message was meant for everyone, who was willing to accept Christ. The old Protestants groups were losing members due to the Great Awakening. The new protestant denominations were preaching the baptism of the adults, which is a different case from the infant baptism preached by the Old protestant groups (Irish, 2018). Therefore, the Great Awakening greatly affected the leadership of the old protestant groups.
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Great Awakening played a key role in the revolution because it deepened people's beliefs on equality. The second awakening influenced social reforms by changing the American culture. The reborn Evangelical Christians felt that they had a role to play in creating an orderly nation. Therefore, Christians engaging in humanitarian acts, neighborhood decency, individual regeneration, and rooting evil from the society helped to change the American culture.
The new Evangelical Christians were concerned with people’s behaviors and reinforced the moral regulations, which yielded success in public affairs and personal life. The church authority was aware of the political corruption and its contamination to society. However, these leaders took place in the new politics, as they understood the importance of the political arena in influencing people's behavior (Irish, 2018). Therefore, the church authority influenced the abolition of slavery, women's rights, prisons, and education (Irish, 2018). Therefore, with the arguments that the Christians have a duty to their country, the church authority pushed politics to become morally upright.
References
Irish, K. (2018). The Second Great Awakening and the Making of Modern America. Faculty Publications, Department of History, Politics, and International Studies, 78, 1-16.
Stone, G. (2012). The Second Great Awakening: A Christian Nation. Georgia State University Law Review, 26(4), 1305-1333.
