Chapter 5, section 1

The Beginnings of an American Identity

Newspapers and Books

Increased throughout the 1700s. Almanacs were very popular.

Ben Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac. Helped to unite the colonies.

The Great Awakening

A religious revival (increase in religion) that swept the colonies in the 1730s & 1740s.

Famous preachers: Jonathan Edwards – Emotional sermons

about God’s anger and salvation George Whitefield – Drew crowds of

thousands and helped orphans. Helped to unite the colonies.

It might be hard to get a sense of how the Great Awakening touched many colonists and helped to unite the colonies. So, let’s try to make some comparisons to your experiences.

Comparison #1:

What fads, movements, or ways of living / doing things have become extremely popular in recent years and have swept the nation?

For comparison #1, I can think of a combination of two examples…

Sponge Bob:

Gangnam Style

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_0qCrZW4kY

Comparison #2:

What event or famous person would you go to great lengths to see? What would you do to attend this event or see this person?

Let’s read a personal account of the Great Awakening and how much it moved people.

Because it’s awesome!

The Great Awakening comes to Weathersfield, CT.

The Great Awakening had many effects on the colonies.

Which of the following effects of the Great Awakening would you say was most important and why?

Effects of Great Awakening•Churches split part and new churches were founded – Ex. Baptists

•Churches grew in membership

•Efforts to convert Native American and African Americans increased

•Tension between “old lights” and “new lights”•“New light” colleges founded to train ministers – Princeton and Brown

•Encouraged ideas of equality and the right to challenge authority

•For the first time, fostered the ideas that colonists from all regions shared something in common

Certainly, one of the most important

effects of the Great Awakening was that

this religious movement helped to unite

the colonies.

The Enlightenment - an Eighteenth Century (1700s) movement that emphasized reason and science as the paths to knowledge.

The EnLightenment

Encouraged reason and science and criticized the easy acceptance of authority. Benjamin Franklin

Natural rights Isaac Newton had proved that the universe was guided by certain

“natural” laws, so shouldn't society be guided by certain “natural” laws too?

John Locke: Natural rights = Right to Life, Liberty and property

Helped to unite the colonies colonists began to wonder whether the British were really protecting their natural rights

Colonial Intellectual Movements

The Enlightenment The Great Awakening

Based on the pursuit of science, reason, and

logic.

Based on the pursuit of renewed faith and religion

An increase in newspapers and books, the Great Awakening, and

the Enlightenment all helped to 1) develop early American culture and 2) unite the colonies.