The Enlightenment and the great Awakening

🧠 The Enlightenment — AP Study Notes

Definition

• The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement that began in Europe and spread to America during the 18th century.

Core Beliefs

• Emphasized reason and logic over tradition and unquestioned authority.

• Sought to understand the natural laws governing the world.

• Rejected the idea that knowledge must be explained solely through religion.

View of Humanity

• Believed humans are capable of progress.

• Argued that education and freedom of thought allow individuals and societies to improve.

• Saw human reason as a tool to improve government, society, and moral life.

Key Ideas to Remember (AP Focus)

• Reason > tradition

• Science and logic as tools for understanding the world

• Progress is possible through education

• Separation of religion from scientific and philosophical inquiry

🧠 Enlightenment in America — AP Study Notes

Spread to the Colonies

• Enlightenment ideas spread from Europe to America in the 18th century.

• Many educated colonists were inspired by European Enlightenment thinkers.

• American Enlightenment thinkers were not atheists, but they:

  • Questioned religious dogma

  • Evaluated beliefs using science and reason

Religion and Reason

• Enlightenment ideas encouraged people to:

  • Examine religious teachings through scientific knowledge

  • Separate faith from empirical evidence

• Religion was not rejected, but blind acceptance was challenged.

🔑 Key Enlightenment Thinkers Influencing the Colonies

Isaac Newton

• Contribution: Science

• Developed laws explaining the natural universe

• Showed the universe operates according to natural laws

• Reinforced the idea that the world can be understood through observation and mathematics

John Locke

• Contribution: Political philosophy

• Applied reason to government and politics

• Influenced ideas about:

  • Natural rights

  • Government based on consent

• Major influence on American political thought

Influence of Copernicus

• Copernicus (1500s) proposed the heliocentric model

  • Earth revolves around the Sun

• Challenged the church-supported geocentric view

• Influenced later Enlightenment thinkers like:

  • Newton

  • Locke

• Helped shift thinking away from church authority toward scientific inquiry

🧩 Big Picture (AP Focus)

• Enlightenment thinkers:

  • Challenged church-centered explanations

  • Promoted reason, science, and logic

• Their ideas:

  • Undermined traditional authority

  • Encouraged intellectual independence

  • Helped shape American political and scientific thought

🧠 Isaac Newton — AP Enlightenment Study Notes

Influence on the Enlightenment

• Isaac Newton strongly influenced American and European Enlightenment thinkers.

• His work showed that the universe operates according to rational, balanced natural laws.

• Helped shift thinking toward reason and science as ways to understand the world.

Scientific Contributions

• Developed the theory of gravity.

• Explained motion and forces using mathematical and measurable laws.

• Demonstrated that natural phenomena could be understood without relying on religious explanations.

Religion and Beliefs

• Newton considered himself a Christian.

• Studied the Bible extensively.

• Disagreed with certain doctrines of the Church of England.

• Did not believe in the divinity of Jesus.

• Believed in one God who created an orderly universe.

Mechanistic View of the Universe

• Newton believed the universe functioned like a machine.

• After creation, the universe operated according to:

  • Gravity

  • Motion

  • Natural laws

• God did not need to intervene constantly.

• This view separated science from religion, a key Enlightenment idea.

The Royal Society (1672)

• Newton became a member of the Royal Society of London in 1672.

• The Society was dedicated to science (natural philosophy).

• Goals:

  • Question ancient Greek scientific theories

  • Test ideas through experimentation

  • Separate scientific inquiry from religious belief

• Helped promote the scientific method.

🔑 Key Enlightenment Themes Represented by Newton

• Reason over tradition

• Science based on observation and experimentation

• Separation of religion and science

• Belief in an orderly, rational universe

One-Sentence AP Summary

🧠 John Locke — AP Enlightenment Study Notes

Background

• John Locke was a British philosopher educated at Oxford University.

• Contemporary of Isaac Newton.

• Member of the Royal Society.

• One of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers, especially in political philosophy.

Religious and Philosophical Beliefs

• Believed in pantheism:

  • God exists in nature, not separate from it.

• Supported religious freedom.

• Rejected:

  • Absolute authority of the church

  • The divine right of kings

• Opposed nonrepresentative and auth0 ritarian governments.

Emphasis on Reason and Individualism

• Encouraged freethinking and individualism.

• Urged people to abandon superstition.

• Believed truth should be discovered through reason, not imposed authority.

• Supported democracy and political participation.

📘 Major Works and Ideas

An Essay Concerning Human Understanding

• Proposed the idea of tabula rasa (blank slate):

  • Humans are born without innate ideas

  • Knowledge comes from experience and environment

• Enlightenment thinkers interpreted this to mean:

  • Humans are born equal

  • Values and beliefs are shaped by life experiences

Two Treatises of Government

• Argued that:

  • Government exists to protect natural rights

• Natural rights include:

  • Life

  • Liberty

  • Property

• Government must have the consent of the governed.

• People have the right to overthrow a government that abuses natural rights.

🇺🇸 Influence on American Thought

• Locke’s ideas heavily influenced:

  • American Enlightenment thinkers

  • The Declaration of Independence

• His political philosophy shaped:

  • Democratic ideals

  • Concepts of limited government

• His emphasis on education influenced the American education system.

🔑 Key Enlightenment Themes Represented by Locke

• Reason over superstition

• Individual rights and equality

• Government by consent

• Religious tolerance

• Education as a foundation for society

One-Sentence AP Summary

🧠 Education in the Colonies — AP Study Notes

Literacy Rates

• In the 18th century, literacy rates in the New England colonies were higher than in England.

• New England had:

  • Higher literacy than the Middle Colonies

  • Much higher literacy than the Southern Colonies

• High literacy helped spread Enlightenment ideas in colonial America.

Education and the Enlightenment

• Education played a major role in the spread of Enlightenment thought from Europe to America.

• Literate colonists could:

  • Read European Enlightenment works

  • Exchange ideas with thinkers across the Atlantic

• This intellectual exchange strengthened Enlightenment influence in the colonies.

Who Was Educated?

• Literacy was highest among white male colonists.

• However:

  • A significant number of colonial women could read and write well enough to sign documents.

• In the 18th century:

  • Being able to sign one’s name was considered literacy, unlike today’s standards.

Impact on Colonial Thinking

• Educated colonists began to:

  • Question religious superstition

  • Challenge irrational traditions

• This questioning mindset aligned with Enlightenment values of:

  • Reason

  • Logic

  • Critical thinking

Key Figure: Benjamin Franklin

• Benjamin Franklin was a leading colonial supporter of Enlightenment ideas.

• Promoted:

  • Education

  • Scientific inquiry

  • Reason over superstition

• Served as a bridge between European Enlightenment thought and American society.

🔑 Big Picture (AP Focus)

• High literacy → spread of Enlightenment ideas

• Education enabled:

  • Political questioning

  • Religious tolerance

  • Intellectual independence

• Enlightenment thought helped shape American identity before independence.

One-Sentence AP Summary

🧠 Benjamin Franklin — AP Enlightenment Study Notes

Role in the Enlightenment

• Benjamin Franklin is often called the “spirit of the Enlightenment in America.”

• One of the first Americans to:

  • Question irrational religious dogma

  • Promote scientific inquiry

  • Apply reason to improve everyday life

• Believed knowledge should be useful and benefit society.

Early Life and Intellectual Growth

• Born in Boston.

• Moved to Philadelphia as a teenager.

• Philadelphia’s rapid growth provided opportunities for:

  • Intellectual exchange

  • Social mobility

  • Sharing Enlightenment ideas

Intellectual Societies

• Founded the Junto:

  • A discussion group for like-minded thinkers

  • Focused on ideas, self-improvement, and civic responsibility

• Helped organize the American Philosophical Society in 1743:

  • Brought together leading colonial intellectuals

  • Focused on science, philosophy, and natural phenomena

  • Modeled after and communicated with the Royal Society in London

Poor Richard’s Almanack (1732)

• Popular publication including:

  • Weather forecasts

  • Moon phases

  • Practical advice

  • Aphorisms (short sayings)

• Made Franklin famous and financially successful.

• Allowed him to devote his life to:

  • Public service

  • Scientific research

Science and Public Service

• Franklin believed science and public service were connected.

• Used scientific knowledge to:

  • Improve daily life

  • Increase comfort and efficiency

• Embodied Enlightenment belief that reason can improve society.

Political Beliefs

• Opposed:

  • Religious authoritarianism

  • Absolute monarchy

• Supported:

  • Democratic institutions

  • Protection of natural rights

• Strongly influenced by John Locke’s ideas.

Religious Beliefs (Deism)

• Franklin identified as a deist.

• Deism:

  • God created the universe

  • Universe operates according to natural laws

  • God does not actively intervene

• Believed:

  • Morality comes from good works, not rituals

  • Faith and virtue are not dependent on organized religion

• Deism gained support among several Founding Fathers.

🔑 Key Enlightenment Themes Represented by Franklin

• Reason over superstition

• Science for human benefit

• Religious tolerance

• Opposition to authoritarian power

• Civic responsibility

.

🧠 Deism — AP Enlightenment Study Notes

Origins

• Deism emerged during the Scientific Revolution (17th century).

• Influenced heavily by Isaac Newton’s idea of an ordered, mechanistic universe.

• Newton’s view suggested:

  • God created the universe

  • The universe operates according to natural laws

• This led thinkers to seek a rational religion based on reason and observation.

Core Beliefs of Deism

• God created the universe but does not actively intervene in it.

• The universe functions according to natural laws.

• God can be understood through:

  • Reason

  • Nature

• Religion should emphasize:

  • Ethical living

  • Rational thought

  • Moral behavior

Relationship to Christianity

• Deists were often culturally Christian, but:

  • Rejected orthodox doctrines

  • Questioned miracles and divine intervention

• Believed God is rational, because He created a rational universe.

• Understanding nature helps humans understand God’s design.

Enlightenment View of Religion

• Just as reason explains physical laws, it can explain religious principles.

• Faith should be guided by:

  • Logic

  • Evidence

  • Moral reasoning

• Rejected blind acceptance of church authority.

Impact on the 18th Century

• Deism challenged traditional religious beliefs.

• Many Christians continued to follow orthodox Christianity.

• Religious tension increased as Enlightenment ideas spread.

Connection to the Great Awakening

• The Great Awakening emerged partly as a reaction to Enlightenment and Deist ideas.

• Emphasized:

  • Emotional religious experience

  • Personal faith

  • Revival-style preaching

• Reflected a pushback against overly rational approaches to religion.

🔑 Big Picture (AP Focus)

• Deism represents the Enlightenment attempt to:

  • Reconcile religion with science

  • Separate faith from superstition

• The Enlightenment and the Great Awakening developed simultaneously, shaping American religious and intellectual life.

One-Sentence AP Summary

🧠 The Great Awakening — AP Study Notes

Definition & Time Period

• The Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival.

• Took place in the late 1720s–1730s.

• Spread across Europe and colonial America.

• Emerged partly as a reaction against Enlightenment rationalism.

Core Beliefs

• Emphasized human sinfulness.

• Stressed the need for:

  • Penance

  • Repentance

  • Salvation through faith

• Believed salvation required:

  • Personal conversion

  • A direct relationship with God

Emotion vs. Reason (Key AP Contrast)

• Great Awakening:

  • Appealed to emotion and feeling

  • Focused on spiritual rebirth

• Enlightenment:

  • Appealed to reason and logic

  • Emphasized human improvement through education

• The two movements represented opposing views of:

  • Human nature

  • Religion

  • The universe

Evangelicalism

• The Great Awakening revived evangelical Christianity.

• Evangelicals believed:

  • The Bible is the ultimate authority

  • Scripture is infallible

  • Faith must be personal and emotional

• Rooted in the Protestant Reformation.

• Salvation came through:

  • Personal faith

  • Acceptance of the Gospel

Spread and Social Impact

• Strongest impact in New England.

• Spread to:

  • Middle Colonies

  • Southern Colonies

• Included:

  • Men and women

  • People from all social classes

  • Some African Americans and American Indians

• Helped break down traditional religious hierarchies.

Preaching Style

• Introduced a new, animated style of preaching.

• Ministers were:

  • Charismatic

  • Emotional

  • Dramatic

• Sermons emphasized:

  • Human sinfulness

  • Fear of damnation

  • Need for repentance

• Preachers often:

  • Shouted

  • Wept

  • Used intense emotion to move audiences

Key Figures

• George Whitefield (England)

  • Famous itinerant preacher

• Jonathan Edwards (American colonies)

  • Known for sermons emphasizing sin and salvation

🔑 Big Picture (AP Focus)

• The Great Awakening:

  • Challenged traditional church authority

  • Encouraged personal religious experience

  • Increased religious diversity

• Alongside the Enlightenment, it shaped:

  • American views on faith

  • Individualism

  • Authority

One-Sentence AP Summary

🧠 Jonathan Edwards — AP Great Awakening Study Notes

Background

• Jonathan Edwards was a leading evangelical preacher in colonial America.

• Educated at Yale.

• Lived and preached in Massachusetts.

• Credited with igniting the Great Awakening in the American colonies.

Core Beliefs

• Salvation comes only through complete dependence on God’s grace.

• Rejected the idea that:

  • Good deeds alone

  • Prayer alone
    could lead to salvation.

• Emphasized true conversion and total faith in God.

Famous Sermon

“Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”

• One of the most famous sermons in American history.

• Warned sinners of God’s wrath and the dangers of damnation.

• Famous imagery includes:

  • Sinners compared to a spider dangling over a fire

  • Humans described as:

    • “dry stubble before devouring flames”

    • “light chaff before the whirlwind”

• Purpose:

  • Instill fear of damnation

  • Encourage repentance and conversion

Use of Imagery

• Edwards used vivid, frightening imagery to:

  • Emphasize human sinfulness

  • Show the fragility of human life

• Imagery made sermons:

  • Emotionally powerful

  • Memorable

  • Persuasive

Audience Reaction

• Sermons caused intense emotional responses, including:

  • Shouting

  • Crying

  • Barking

  • Rolling on the floor

• Reflected the emotional nature of the Great Awakening.

Preaching Style

• Despite emotional content:

  • Edwards himself spoke calmly and quietly

• Contrasted with George Whitefield, who preached in a loud, dramatic style.

• Showed that emotional impact came from ideas and imagery, not volume.

🔑 Key Great Awakening Themes Represented by Edwards

• Human sinfulness

• Fear of damnation

• Necessity of repentance

• Emotional religious experience

• Personal conversion

🧠 George Whitefield — AP Great Awakening Study Notes

Background

• George Whitefield was a British revivalist preacher.

• Toured the American colonies from 1739 to 1741.

• One of the most influential evangelists of the Great Awakening.

Preaching Style

• Known for an emotional, dramatic, and theatrical preaching style.

• His sermons often:

  • Reduced audiences to tears

  • Led listeners to confess their sins publicly

• Even Jonathan Edwards is known to have wept during Whitefield’s sermons.

• Inspired many American ministers to:

  • Imitate his dramatic delivery

  • Use emotional and confrontational techniques

Core Religious Beliefs

• Taught that salvation comes through:

  • God’s grace

  • Emotional conversion

• Believed true salvation required being emotionally moved during conversion.

• Emphasized:

  • Love for Jesus

  • Hope and redemption

• Proclaimed that all who truly loved Jesus would enter the kingdom of God.

Impact on Colonial America

• Drew thousands of colonists to revival meetings.

• Led to dramatic increases in church membership:

  • In Connecticut, membership increased to 3,217 (fivefold growth).

• Helped spread the Great Awakening across regional boundaries.

Influence Beyond Religion

• Whitefield’s preaching affected even Enlightenment thinkers.

• Benjamin Franklin, though a rationalist, was deeply moved by Whitefield:

  • Donated money spontaneously after a sermon in Philadelphia (1740).

• Demonstrates how emotional revivalism could transcend intellectual divides.

🔑 Key Great Awakening Themes Represented by Whitefield

• Emotional religious experience

• Evangelical preaching

• Personal conversion

• Religious inclusivity

• Mass religious participation

One-Sentence AP Summary

🧠 Enlightenment vs. Great Awakening — AP Study Notes

Reaction to the Enlightenment

• The Enlightenment introduced new ideas about:

  • Religion

  • Morality

  • Reason and rational thought

• Not all people accepted these rational ideas.

• For some, Enlightenment thinking created a spiritual void.

Rise of Revivalism

• The spiritual void was filled by Great Awakening revivalists.

• Revivalists used:

  • Emotional sermons

  • Religious theatrics

• Focused on personal religious experience.

Core Revivalist Beliefs

• Salvation could be achieved through:

  • Personal conversion

  • Repentance

• Emphasized individual responsibility for faith.

Appeal of the Great Awakening

• The promise of salvation was especially appealing to:

  • Ordinary colonists

  • People facing hardship and survival struggles

• Offered:

  • Hope

  • Emotional comfort

  • A sense of spiritual meaning

🔑 Big Picture (AP Focus)

• The Enlightenment and Great Awakening developed side by side.

• Represented different responses to religion:

  • Enlightenment → reason and logic

  • Great Awakening → emotion and faith

• Both shaped colonial American identity.

One-Sentence AP Summary

🧠 Old Lights vs. New Lights — APUSH Study Notes

Division Caused by the Great Awakening

• The Great Awakening split American Protestants into two groups:

  • New Lights

  • Old Lights

• This division reshaped religious life in the colonies during the 1740s.

🔹 Old Lights

• Opposed the Great Awakening

• Supported:

  • Traditional, established forms of worship

  • Rational, orderly religion

• Believed revivalist emotion was:

  • Excessive

  • Dangerous

  • Irrational

• Often part of the religious elite

• Key figure:

  • Charles Chauncy (Boston)

    • Criticized revivalist theatrics

    • Warned against mistaking emotional excitement for divine grace

🔹 New Lights

• Supported the Great Awakening

• Emphasized:

  • Emotional preaching

  • Personal conversion

  • Religious enthusiasm

• Welcomed:

  • All social classes

  • All races

• Criticized Old Lights as:

  • Elitist

  • Spiritually empty

• Key figures:

  • Gilbert Tennent

  • James Davenport

• Gained support among:

  • Poor

  • Oppressed

  • Ordinary colonists

🔹 Colonial Religious Landscape (Before the Awakening)

• Anglican Church:

  • Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Carolinas

• Congregationalists:

  • New England

• Dutch Reformed & Anglican:

  • New York

• Quakers:

  • Pennsylvania

🔹 Conflict and Consequences

• Deep divisions within Protestant churches

• Formation of rival religious groups

• In 1741, Presbyterians split into two factions

  • Reunited in 1758 with acceptance of New Light ideas

• Old Light churches:

  • Lost members to New Lights

  • Tried to block new churches legally

• In some colonies (e.g., Connecticut):

  • Revivalists were barred from preaching

  • Old Lights controlled church taxes

🔹 Long-Term Impact

• New Lights continued to grow despite resistance

• Conversions peaked by 1755

• Encouraged:

  • Religious pluralism

  • Challenges to authority

  • Individual choice in religion

• Helped shape American values of independence and equality

🔑 Big Picture (AP Focus)

• Old Lights vs. New Lights reflects:

  • Emotion vs. reason

  • Tradition vs. change

  • Authority vs. individual experience

• Set a precedent for questioning established authority in America

One-Sentence AP Summary

🧠 Education and the Great Awakening — APUSH Study Notes

Educational Impact of the Great Awakening

• The Great Awakening sparked not only religious revival but also an educational revival.

• Education already thrived in New England, especially for boys.

• Religious divisions between Old Lights and New Lights increased the demand for separate institutions of higher learning.

Religion and Higher Education

• In the 18th century, colleges focused primarily on:

  • Religious studies

  • Training ministers

• Different denominations wanted colleges that reflected their own beliefs.

• This led to the founding of several new colleges in the colonies.

🏫 Colleges Founded During the Great Awakening

New Light–Associated Colleges

• College of New Jersey (1746) → Princeton University

  • Founded by New Lights

• College of Rhode Island (1764) → Brown University

  • Founded by Baptists

• Queen’s College (1766) → Rutgers University

  • Founded by the Dutch Reformed Church

Other Denominational Colleges

• King’s College (1754) → Columbia University

  • Founded by Presbyterians

• Harvard College (1636)

  • Supported by Old Lights

• Yale College (1701)

  • Supported by Old Lights

  • Founded by Puritan sects

Purpose of Colonial Colleges

• Primary goal:

  • Training ministers

• Secondary effects:

  • Spread of literacy

  • Growth of educated leadership

  • Expansion of intellectual life in the colonies

🔑 Big Picture (AP Focus)

• The Great Awakening:

  • Increased religious diversity

  • Encouraged educational expansion

• Colleges reflected:

  • Religious competition

  • Growing importance of education

• These institutions later became major centers of American higher education.

One-Sentence AP Summary

🧠 Social Impact of the Great Awakening — APUSH Study Notes

Impact Beyond Religion

• The Great Awakening affected not only churches but also:

  • African Americans

  • American Indians

  • Women

• It expanded participation in religious life beyond white male elites.

🔹 African Americans

• Both free and enslaved African Americans converted to Protestant Christianity.

• Many joined white churches during the revival.

• Christianity offered:

  • Spiritual hope

  • A sense of community

• Despite religious participation:

  • African Americans continued to face social and religious discrimination.

🔹 American Indians

• Some American Indians converted to Christianity.

• Samson Occom:

  • A Mohegan Indian

  • Converted to Christianity

  • Became a preacher

  • Taught Christian principles to other American Indians

• Conversion did not eliminate discrimination or unequal treatment.

🔹 Women

• The Great Awakening expanded women’s roles in religious life.

• Women:

  • Participated more actively in church affairs

  • Could vote in certain church meetings

• Some women moved beyond private prayer groups:

  • Spoke publicly in meetings

  • Led mixed-gender religious gatherings

Example

• Sarah Osborn (Rhode Island):

  • Founded a prayer society in her home

  • Included:

    • Men and women

    • Enslaved African Americans who converted to Christianity

🔑 Limits of Change

• Despite increased participation:

  • Women, African Americans, and American Indians still faced:

    • Social inequality

    • Legal restrictions

    • Discrimination

• The Great Awakening offered spiritual inclusion, not full equality.

🔑 Big Picture (AP Focus)

• The Great Awakening:

  • Encouraged broader participation in religion

  • Challenged traditional social hierarchies

  • Reinforced ideas of individual spiritual worth

• Helped plant early ideas about equality and inclusion, even if imperfectly realized.

One-Sentence AP Summary