The Great Awakening

In a few of my own words, the Great Awakening was a time in colonial history when the churches in the colonies revised their policies and attracted more colonists with their refreshed ideals. By the 1730s, religion was becoming a less central part of the lives of the colonists, especially the Puritan church, which had very strict rules concerning being a part of their congrgation and equally elaborate doctrines. Also at this time, many such as Jacobus Arminius began challenging such ideas as predestination as endorsed by Calvinism. Because of this, many chruches realized that it was basically necessary to be less strict in their "rules and regulations" so that they could gather new members.
Then came the new preachers. Near the beginning of the Awakening, writer and pastor Jonathan Edwards preached that one need depend entirely on God. His dramatic style became clear in "Sinners in the hands of an Angry God", in which he described in detail hell and the fates of the damned souls, which sparked much attention and conversions. Even more impressive, though, was the captivating preaching of George Whitefield. Whitefield was described as dramatic enough to convince even the most skeptical lsiteners, bringing about many, many conversions, as well as inspiring many enthusistic (and bizarre) imitators. This new, emotional aspect of religion was beinginning to undermine the stiff, stubborn concepts of the past. The Awakening also, though, set off a fair number of schisms that were primarily sparked by disgtuntled preachers of the older clergy.
The Great Awakening helped to bring about the spearation of Chruch and State in colonial America. As mentioned earlier, a number of schisms were set off as the Awakening progressed. Such schisms were primarily caused by those clergymen who still believed in the older methods of religion, as were set before the Awakening took place. Naturally, the clergymen resented the newer, more open, policies that the Awakening was setting up, and so many groups were splitting apart. As a result of this, many new breanches of denominations were being set up. Simultaneously, and most likely as a part of the newer policies of churches, it was being reconsidered how religion was truly defined. That is, if a government forces a group of people to worship in a specific way, that is not necessarily true devotion to a religion. People were becoming aware that a government need not interfere in religion, as particularly evidenced by the law that clergymen may not hold formal political office, as a means of preventing said clergymen from becoming too powerful. The Great Awakening was a significant time in American history, as it was the first spontaneous mass movement of the American people!