Puritamism and the American Great Awakening

Puritanism and the American Great Awakening of the 18th century

1.0 Introduction

The Great Awakening refers to the period of religious restoration that spanned across the 18th century. During that period, there was increased enthusiasm towards religious beliefs caused by evangelical ministries that protested against the early Roman Catholic Church and repressive colonial regime (Tracey 18). As a result, there was deep conviction and revival for the affected groups with a boom in church membership. The First Great Awakening is reported to have occurred between 1730s and 1760s leading to the growth of religious movements that constructed America’s national identity during the colonial era. This piece of work is aimed at examining the role of religion in colonial America.

2.0 Puritanism in the 17th century

The development of Puritanism in the 17th century together with the 18th century Great Awakening influenced the revolution of America greatly. Puritans had left England in the early 17th century to seek for refuge in America in fear of being persecuted following their faith that contravened the beliefs of the English government of the day (Cragg 3). What’s more, they shifted to America with the zeal to develop a society that was habitable. Puritans first occupied New England and preached their beliefs that disagreements in the society were caused by political, economic, and religious divergence. The Puritans strongly believed that the Church of England was the true church though they acknowledged that it required many transformations. Puritans believed that aggrieved God was powerful and disastrous and could bring destruction to humankind (Kang 150). What is more, Puritans cited repressive monarchies as being opposed to the will o...

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