Historians use the term "Great Awakenings" for periods of intense religious revival in American history. The First Great Awakening is usually dated to the 1730s and 1740s, and the Second Great Awakening to roughly the 1790s through the 1840s. Some scholars also speak of later awakenings, although the labels and dates are debated.
Each revival had its own leaders and context, but certain themes recur across them. Here are ten that help explain why these movements mattered so much.
1. Personal conversion
At the heart of the revivals was the idea that each person needed an individual experience of faith, often described as being "born again." Rather than relying only on church membership or upbringing, revival preachers urged listeners to examine their own hearts.
2. Emotional, direct preaching
Revival preachers often spoke with an urgency that differed from the formal, carefully reasoned sermons common in many established churches. George Whitefield was famous for his dramatic delivery, and accounts of revival meetings describe strong emotional responses from listeners.
3. Itinerant ministry
Many revival leaders travelled widely rather than serving a single congregation. Whitefield toured the colonies several times, and later Methodist circuit riders covered large rural areas on horseback. Itinerancy carried revival beyond established towns and across colonial and state boundaries.
4. Challenges to established authority
Revivals sometimes divided churches. In New England, supporters of the revivals were often called "New Lights" and critics "Old Lights." Debates over whether untrained or itinerant preachers should be allowed to preach raised wider questions about who held religious authority.
5. Growth of new denominations
The revivals helped some groups grow rapidly. Baptists and Methodists expanded dramatically during and after the Second Great Awakening, and new movements emerged as well. The American religious landscape became more varied and competitive.
6. Camp meetings
On the frontier, outdoor gatherings lasting several days became a hallmark of the Second Great Awakening. The Cane Ridge meeting in Kentucky in 1801 is the best-known example and drew very large crowds by the standards of the time.
7. Print and communication
Revivals spread not only through preaching but through print. Newspapers reported on meetings, and sermons, journals and letters circulated widely. Jonathan Edwards's account of revival in Northampton, Massachusetts, was read on both sides of the Atlantic.
8. Social reform
The Second Great Awakening is closely linked to reform movements in the early nineteenth century, including temperance, prison reform, education and, for many participants, the abolition of slavery. The belief that individuals and society could be improved encouraged activism.
9. Participation of women and African Americans
Women formed a large share of revival converts and were active in prayer groups, missionary societies and reform organisations. African Americans, both enslaved and free, joined evangelical churches in significant numbers, and independent Black churches grew in this era, including the African Methodist Episcopal Church.
10. Religious liberty and voluntary churches
As states moved away from officially established churches, religious life increasingly depended on voluntary participation. Revivals fitted this environment well, because they relied on persuading individuals rather than on legal support. Many historians see the awakenings as part of the story of American religious freedom.
Debates among historians
Not all scholars agree on how to describe these movements. Some argue that "Great Awakening" can make scattered local revivals sound more unified than they were. Others debate how far the revivals influenced the American Revolution or later political movements. These discussions are a reminder that historical labels are tools for understanding, not fixed facts.
Key takeaways
- The Great Awakenings emphasised personal conversion and direct, emotional preaching.
- Travelling preachers, camp meetings and print helped revival spread.
- The revivals reshaped denominations and encouraged reform movements.
- Historians continue to debate how unified and influential the awakenings were.