The Great Awakening and the Birth of American Independence
The Great Awakening: Religious Revival and Social Change
The Intensity of Revival Sermons
…going to fly and be sprinkled. (bloody – too graphic) He’s so graphic because he wants to make people afraid of what could happen to them. However, there’s a way they can avoid going to hell. God is giving you the opportunity to reconvert and go back to him; go back to religion. You must reconvert to acquire salvation.
Consequences of the Great Awakening
- Ecclesiastical: More people went to Church and believed in the institutions again. For this reason, there was a split in the Church that permitted different types of religion (not only Puritan, for example) because there were so many believers.
- Social: The country would be born without an established Church, leading to a democratization of the church: it was not necessary to be elected to be a member of the Church. That created a common identity.
- Cultural: Some colleges and universities started because of the movement, like Columbia (formed by Anglicans). There was also an increase of literary life, as sermons were published.
The American Revolution: Causes of Protest (1760–1774)
The Rise of Colonial Grievances
The causes of the beginning of the protests were rooted in a series of British actions:
- 1760: George III ascends to the throne of Britain.
- 1763: French and Indian War concludes, leading to the Proclamation Line.
- 1764–1765: Increase in taxes (Currency Act, Stamp Act, etc.).
People in America started seeing the British king as a tyrant, and protests started. One important figure was Sam Adams. He was in the group “Sons of Liberty” and they decided to boycott the British by not buying things imported from Britain. The British realized they were being boycotted and sent the British army (the British Red Coats) to Boston, where Adams was.
The Boston Massacre (1770)
Americans saw the arrival of the British army as a provocation. They decided to throw snowballs at the guard of the Custom House, and this guard asked for reinforcements. This affair ended with five dead people, who were considered the first martyrs of the American Revolution. This was published in newspapers, and people started to feel that the British were in conflict with them.
Sam Adams continued with his militant ideas, making people aware of the different concept of patriotism that was arising – he was going to fight for American patriotism.
The Committee of Correspondence (1772)
In 1772, Sam Adams created the Committee of Correspondence, which was an unofficial government organized by patriot leaders. In this committee, they wrote the Statement of Rights and Grievances, in which they demanded the following:
- The taxes should not be imposed without American consent.
- No decisions should be made in the Parliament if American people cannot have representation in it.
This led to the famous rallying cry: “No taxation without representation!” This document was written to tell the British that the colonists did not agree with what they were imposing.
The Boston Tea Party (1773)
Issues with the East India Company, a company that imported tea, started. To get more money, they decided to come and sell tea directly to the shops without dealing with intermediaries. The British were losing money with that. For example, in New York, they decided not to let British ships stay, so the ships had to return.
In Boston, a group of men, disguised as Native Americans, threw the tea overboard, and the company lost all the money. The British King said: the colonies must either submit or triumph.
The First Continental Congress (September 1774)
Delegates met in the Continental Congress (from the illegal government) in Philadelphia. George Washington stated the following:
- They must fight for their rights or submit to the British.
- If they submitted, they would be just as slaves, and slaves were treated badly. So they would need to fight.
Washington famously declared: “the crisis is arrived when we must assert our rights, or submit to every imposition, that can be heaped upon us, till custom and use shall make us as tame and abject as slaves, as the blacks we rule over with such arbitrary sway.”
In the Continental Congress, they wrote the Declaration of American Rights. They denied the British authority over the colonies (the British didn’t have the power). Moreover, they recommended to boycott the British by not buying their products. Finally, they stated that the colonies had the right to create an army.
The American Revolution Begins (1775–1783)
The British Response and the Start of War
The British King’s response led directly to war. He stated: “New England colonies are in a state of rebellion […] blows must decide whether they are to be subject to this country or independent.”
In April 1775, the war started.
Early Conflicts and Leadership
Before the Battle in Lexington and Concord (April 1775), there was the Second Continental Congress (May 1775) in which George Washington was elected commander-in-chief. In the Battle of Bunker Hill (June 1775), the Americans killed one thousand British, whereas the British only killed one hundred Americans.
Diplomatic Efforts and Royal Refusal
Other documents were written by the Americans in these days:
- Olive Branch Petition: This was sent to the British King. In it, Americans said that reconciliation was still possible if the British let them have representation in the Parliament. (At that time, not everyone was sure of the Independence idea.)
- Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms: Basically, they were saying that they needed to fight for their rights.
George III, the British King, refused to read those documents and decided to pass the Prohibitory Act (December 1775) during the continuance of the present rebellion. So, the British King prohibited all trade with the American colonies, which is to say, no goods from anywhere could enter the colonies.
Thomas Paine and Common Sense (1776)
Soon after, Thomas Paine wrote a pamphlet called Common Sense, which initially was published anonymously.
Report: Thomas Paine, Common Sense (February 1776)
The British had abused their power, the King didn’t want them in Parliament, people had been suffering… T. Paine tried to convince everyone that Independence was the only viable solution.
He tried to make his text sound universal, arguing: “The cause of America is in great measure the cause of all mankind.”
The Power of Anonymity
By signing as the author (anonymous), he was taking a role that every American could relate to. Also, by not putting his name, he suggested that he was objective. Moreover, by saying that independence was the only viable solution, he could have been accused of treason and killed by the British, so the anonymity had been useful.