Question

Briefly explain one example of how religion and the Enlightenment were source of change in the American society during the 1700's

Answer 1

Religion brought the Great Awakening to the US in the 1730's and 1740's. The Great Awakening was a response to Enlightenment thinking and revived religious thought and practice in the US. The revival led to an Americanized form of religion which led to the growth of the Baptist and Methodist faiths. These faiths were new and encouraged the major theme of the Great Awakening--a personal relationship with God. The teaching of the Great Awakening encouraged individualism and began to create an American culture.

The Enlightenment created rational thinking focused on logical systems for society. The most prominent area impacted by the Enlightenment was political thinking. The Enlightenment ideas of natural rights, social contract, and representation within a government inspired the Declaration of Independence. The entire American Revolution used Enlightenment ideas to push a new government forward.

Answer 2

The most obvious example of how religion and the Enlightenment changed America in the 1700s is that of the Revolutionary War. The American Revolutionary War was the war against Britain in which America obtained its independence.

This war was justified by the most significant and powerful religious group in the thirteen colonies: Puritans. Puritanism argues that society is bound together by a social covenant. Once the people have entered into such an agreement, voters were responsible for choosing qualified men to govern them. If the ruler was evil, they had the right and duty to oppose him. This way of thinking meant they had also supported some other revolutions in the past, such as the Glorious Revolution of 1688.

The Enlightenment also played a big role in the Revolutionary War and its aftermath, particularly with the Founding Fathers. Being all advocates of the Enlightenment's ideals, they built the new Constitution and the new government around these values. Therefore, things that are intrinsic now to the political process, such as freedom of speech, men as having inalienable rights and all citizens being equal under the law, are product of this movement.