The Great Awakening

The first truly American event during the colonial period, according to some historians, was known as the "Great Awakening," an event that took place in the early 1700s. This was a revival kind of experience where itinerant preachers, the most famous of whom was George Whitefield, traveled around from colony to colony urging the citizens to return to their faith in God. Jonathan Edwards, mentioned above, is also a figure associated with the Great Awakening.

The Great Awakening was the first of many periods of religious enthusiasm that seem to come and go cyclically in American history. Later on we will discuss the Second Great Awakening of the 1840s, out of which emerged, among other things, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, otherwise known as Mormons.

A great controversy goes on among observers of American history as to whether God played a real role in the American Revolution and early history, or whether Americans rejected the whole idea of religion as a significant value in American society, as suggested perhaps by the First Amendment. If one searches the Internet for information about religion in America, one will find a variety of opinions, many of them quite strong. Struggles over religious belief have come down into modern times; religious fundamentalism is still a lively part of American life.

The conflict between America's concept of itself as a Christian nation and those who object to such formulations, both in the United States and in other places in the world, continues

To appear on the front pages of our newspapers and magazines. So one ignores religion and its role in American history at one's peril—its influence is profound and its effects varied, but its role has continued through the ages.