What was the great awakening and how did it effect attitudes for independence?

Answer 1

Many of the first English settlers in America were deeply religious people. As one generation replaced another, religion became less and less important. Along with this there were traveling preachers visiting various churches and preaching in the fields. One of these was a man named Jonathan Edwards. One of his sermons came from a few pages of a book called Calvin's Institutes. It was titled, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." It declared that Jesus did not return because he was giving people time to repent and turn from their evil ways. A number of people had conversion experiences under his preaching and under the preaching of many like him. In America the leaders of the Great Awakening were Calvinists. Unlike most of the population, they were college graduates. Their ideas on government reflected the ideas of John Calvin and John Owen. They sought representative government based on the will of the people. They opposed Leviathan.