ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos


U.S. History 1877-Present Videos 173 videos

U.S. History 1877-Present 11: Reconstruction and Black Codes
6413 Views

Have you ever told one of your siblings to stop poking you, only to have them do something like hold their hand right in front of your face instead...

U.S. History 1877-Present 3: John D. Rockefeller
13980 Views

John D. Rockefeller. Greasy robber baron, or philanthropic saint? Why not both? Boy, that's a weird combination... 

U.S. History 1877-Present 3: Native Americans in the Gilded Age
9665 Views

Today we'll learn about plans to assimilate the American Indian population after reconstruction. If you've ever seen Star Trek, you'll know that fo...

See All

U.S. History 1877-Present 3: Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield 4368 Views


Share It!


Description:

Let's learn about the new wave sweepin' across the Atlantic in the 1700s: The Great Awakening. Think for yourself, leave the rich, established churches, and don't listen to that guy. He isn't screaming and fainting during his sermons, like, at all.

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

No doubt enlightenment thinking was a big part of what inspired [Light bulb appears over man's head]

00:07

the American Revolution and a constitution that follows but people

00:10

weren't only rebelling with their heads they were also rebelling with their

00:14

hearts and their souls while the Enlightenment was transforming science

00:18

philosophy and politics another social movement was revolutionising religion [Bible appears by man]

00:23

this was called the first Great Awakening yeah it sounds like a time

00:28

when everybody woke up to a great big nap time but it was much more than that [Earth spinning and alarm bell rings]

00:32

like the Enlightenment first Great Awakening was a transatlantic phenomenon

00:35

that popped up in Europe as well as in the colony it makes total sense that it [Ship arrives on shore]

00:39

was a big deal in the American colony since many had been founded by people

00:42

looking specifically for religious freedom Puritans Quakers Catholics Jews

00:47

you name it these groups wanted to worship in their own way not monarchs

00:51

getting all up in there you know business if they wanted to pray to Jesus [People praying in church]

00:54

while wearing funny hats well that was their god-given right in Britain people

00:58

thought that God gave authority to the monarch when the colony's authority was

01:02

given to churches but when the first Great Awakening swept through the [Angel flys over church]

01:05

colonies in the 1730's and 40s all that changed the awakening made ideas popular

01:11

that would prepare the colonists to accept a different ideology and society

01:15

it was kind of like that Davy iPhone first hit stores and ever since we've [Girl using iPhone]

01:19

been swiping through life the leaders of the awakening were in your face

01:23

Christian preachers who attacked the state supported religion saying it got [Jonathan Edwards appears in church]

01:27

in the way of true faith the evangelical preachers said that religious experience

01:32

was all about being reborn up and down the colonies they fired up the masses [Baby appears from the ocean]

01:36

getting them excited about expressing their faith in Jesus as the savior of me

01:40

right they said that going to a big church and donating money was cool and [Money flys past man in church]

01:44

all but not as important as personal worship converts to Great Awakening

01:48

churches left traditional churches in its stampede the religious revival of [People running away from a church]

01:53

America's common folk led to big social changes to lower-class evangelicals

01:58

abandoned the wealthy established churches of the elite in the Church of

02:01

England lost members to the Baptist Presbyterians and Methodists and all of

02:06

a sudden the Church of England felt like the popular kid who will suddenly loses [Girl crying]

02:10

all her friends well maybe if she hadn't made out with Becky's boyfriend you know

02:13

just saying many of these newer sex believed even more strongly in

02:17

individualism than did the calvinist of the 16th century Protestant Reformation

02:22

that earlier Reformation had already made people question authority and think

02:27

for themselves what a concept but the Great Awakening took that independent

02:31

spirit and pumped it up with steroids we were going to accomplish you are the [Man and woman pumped up]

02:35

establishment churches said this showed poor sportsmanship but the newbies just

02:39

didn't care none of this was good news for a monarchy that relied upon lemmings [People worshiping monarch]

02:43

to obey its laws and to do its bidding the social tension heated by the Great

02:48

Awakening did not immediately boil over they simmered for decades more than 40 [Water boiling in pan]

02:53

years passed between the awakening and the coming of the American Revolution

02:56

when it finally did boil over into war it was piping hot and maybe a little

03:01

overcooked but it was wartime so you know people had other things to worry [Man appears in battle holding chicken leg]

03:05

about

Related Videos

Why Does the Constitution Still Work for Us?
5723 Views

Ever heard of a "living document"? They eat and breathe just like the rest of us! They even walk around on their own two legs. Okay, fine—maybe t...

The Puritans and the Division of Church and State
1280 Views

If the Puritans had gotten their way, religion would play a much larger role in lawmaking these days. Want to know more? Watch the video for all th...

Shays' Rebellion
6479 Views

What happened between the creation of the Articles of Confederation and the ratification of the current U.S. Constitution? This video analyzes the...

There's More Than One Way to Crack a Modernist Egg
539 Views

The Modernists thought the world had a lot of problems, and they were intent on fixing them—or at least talking about fixing them. Unfortunately,...

Federalism
2533 Views

This video explains Federalism and the quest for a fair balance between state and national power. It covers the progression and compromises of Fede...