Enthusiasm Described and Decried: The Great Awakening as ...

Enthusiasm Described and Decried: The Great Awakening as Interpretative Fiction Author(s): Jon Butler Source: The Journal of American History, Vol. 69, No. 2 (Sep., 1982), pp. 305-325 Published by: Organization of American Historians Stable URL: . Accessed: 01/07/2011 18:15 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at . . JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at . . . Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@.

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EnthusiasmDescribedand Decried: The GreatAwakening as InterpretativFeiction

JonButler

In thelasthalfcenturyt,heGreatAwakeninghas assumeda majorrolein ex-

plainingthepoliticaland social evolutionofprerevolutionarAymericansociety.Historianshave argued,variously,thattheAwakeningseveredintellectual and philosophicalconnectionsbetween America and Europe (Perry Miller),thatitwas a majorvehicleofearlylower-classprotest(JohnC. Miller, RhysIsaac, and GaryB. Nash), thatit was a means by whichNew England PuritansbecameYankees (RichardL. Bushman),thatit was thefirst"intercolonialmovement"tostir"thepeopleofseveralcolonieson a matterofcommon emotional concern" (RichardHofstadterfollowingWilliam Warren Sweet), or that it involved"a rebirthof the localistic impulse" (Kenneth

Lockridge)*1

Americanhistoriansalso haveincreasinglylinkedtheAwakeningdirectlyto the Revolution.Alan Heimerthas taggedit as the source of a Calvinist political ideologythat irretrievablyshaped eighteenth-centurAymerican societyand the Revolutionit produced.HarryS. Stouthas arguedthatthe Awakeningstimulateda new systemofmass communicationtshatincreased thecolonists'politicalawarenessandreducedtheirdeferenceto elitegroups priorto theRevolution.Isaac and Nash have describedtheAwakeningas the source of a simpler,non-Calvinistprotestrhetoricthat reinforcedrevolutionaryideologyin disparateplaces, amongthemVirginiaand the northern

JonButleris associateprofessoorfhistoryattheUniversityofIllinoisatChicago. 1 PerryMiller,Errandinto the Wilderness(Cambridge1, 956), 153-66; RichardL. Bushman, FromPuritanto Yankee:Characterand theSocialOrderin Connecticut1,690-1765(Cambridge, 1967), 183-232; JohnC. Miller,"Religion,Finance,and Democracyin Massachusetts,"New EnglandQuarterly6, (March1933),29-58; RhysIsaac, "EvangelicalRevolt:The Natureofthe BaptistsC' hallengetotheTraditionaOl rderinVirginia1, 765-1775,"WilliamandMaryQuarterly,31 (July1974),345-68; RhysIsaac, The TransformatioonfVirginia1,740-1790(ChapelHill, 1982),161-80,192-98,243-69;GaryB. Nash,The UrbanCrucible:SocialChange,PoliticalConsciousness,and the Originsof theAmericanRevolution(Cambridge,1979), 204-27; Richard HofstadterA,mericaat 1750:A SocialPortrait(NewYork,1973),217;WilliamWarrenSweet,The StoryofReligionin America(NewYork,1950),138,172;KennethA. LockridgeS,ettlemenatnd Unsettlemenitn EarlyAmerica:The CrisisofPoliticalLegitimacybeforetheRevolution(New York,1981),43-44.

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portcities.WilliamG. McLoughlinhas evenclaimedthattheGreatAwakeningwasnothinglessthan"theKeytotheAmericanRevolution."2

These claimsforthesignificancoefthe GreatAwakeningcome frommore than specialistsin the colonial period. They are a ubiquitousfeatureof Americanhistorysurveytexts,wheretheincreasedemphasison socialhistory hasmadetheseclaimsespeciallyusefulin interpretinegarlyAmericansociety totwentieth-centusrtyudentsV. irtuallyall textstreattheGreatAwakeningas a majorwatershedin thematurationofprerevolutionarAymericansociety. TheGreatRepublictermstheAwakening"thegreatesteventin thehistoryof religionineighteenth-centuArmy erica."TheNationalExperiencearguesthat theAwakeningbrought"religiousexperiencesto thousandsofpeopleinevery rankof society"and in everyregion.The Essentialsof AmericanHistory stresseshow the Awakening"aroused a spiritof humanitarianism,""encouragedthenotionofequal rights,"and "stimulatedfeelingsofdemocracy" evenifitsgainsinchurchmembershiprovedepisodic.These textsandothers describetheweakenedpositionoftheclergyproducedby theAwakeningas symptomatiocfgrowingdisrespectforall formsofauthorityin thecolonies andas an importanctatalyst,evencause, oftheAmericanRevolutionT. he effectoftheseclaimsis astonishingB. uttressedbythestandardlectureon the Awakeningtuckedinto most surveycourses,Americanundergraduatehsave beenwell trainedto remembertheGreatAwakeningbecause theirinstructors

and textshave investedit with such significance.3

Does theGreatAwakeningwarrantsuchenthusiasm?Itspuzzlinghistoriographysuggestsone caution.The Awakeninghas receivedsurprisingllyittle systematicstudyandlacksevenone comprehensivgeeneralhistoryT. he two studies,byHeimertand CedricB. Cowing,thatmightqualifyas generalhistoriesactuallyaredeeplycenteredinNew England.Theyventureintothemiddle and southerncoloniesonlyoccasionallyand concentrateon intellectual themes to the exclusion of social history. The remainingstudies are

2 AlanHeimertR, eligionandtheAmericanMindfromtheGreatAwakeningtotheRevolution (Cambridge1,966);HarryS. Stout,"Religion,Communicationsa,ndtheIdeologicalOriginsofthe AmericanRevolution,"Williamand Mary Quarterly,34 (Oct. 1977), 519-41; RhysIsaac, "DramatizingtheIdeologyoftheRevolutionP: opularMobilizationin Virginia,1774to 1776," ibid.,33 (July1976),357-85;RhysIsaac,"PreachersandPatriotsP: opularCultureandtheRevolution in Virginia,"in The AmericanRevolution:Explorationsin the Historyof American Radicalism,ed. AlfredF. Young (DeKalb,Ill., 1976), 125-56; WilliamG. McLoughlin,"'EnthusiasmforLiberty'T: heGreatAwakeningas theKeytotheRevolution,"in lackP. Greeneand WilliamG. McLoughlinP, reacherasnd Politicians:Two Essayson theOriginsoftheAmerican Revolution(WorcesterM, ass., 1977),47-73; Nash,UrbanCrucible,345,350,384.

3 BernardBailynet al., The GreatRepublic:A Historyof theAmericanPeople (2 vols., LexingtonM, ass., 1981),1,137-41;JohnM. Blumet al., TheNationalExperienceA: Historyofthe UnitedStates(2 vols.,New York,1973),I, 63-65; RichardN. Currentet al., The Essentialsof AmericanHistory(New York,1980),27-28. Forexamplesfromothertextbookss,ee EdwinC. RozwencandThomasBender,TheMakingofAmericanSociety(NewYork,1978),128-30;Mary BethNortonetal., A Peopleanda Nation:A HistoryoftheUnitedStates(Boston,1982),80-82; HenryF. BedforadndTrevorColbourn,TheAmericansA: BriefHistoryto1877(NewYork,1980), 36-37; ArthurS. Linket al., The AmericanPeoplc:A History(2 vols., ArlingtonHeights,Ill., 19811,1,134-35;RobertKclley,TheShapingoftheAmericanPast(2 vols.,EnglewoodCliffsN, .J., 1982),I, 83-85; JohnA. GarratyT, heAmericanNation:A HistoryoftheUnitcdStatesto 1871 (NowYork-1,979),46-47.

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thoroughlyregional,as in the case of books by Bushman,Edwin Scott Gaustad,CharlesHartshornMaxson,DietmarRothermunda,nd WesleyM. Gewehr,orarelocal, as withthespateofarticleson New Englandtownsand JonathaEndwardsorIsaac's articlesandbookon Virginia.The resultis that

thegeneralcharacteroftheGreatAwakeninglackssustained,comprehensive

studyevenwhileit benefitsfromthoroughlocal examinationsT. he relation-

shipbetweenthe Revolutionand the Awakeningis describedin an equally

peculiarmanner.Heimert's seminal 1966 study,despitefairand unfair criticismh, as becomethatkindofinfluentiawl orkwhoseawesomereputa-

tionapparentlydiscouragesfurtheprursuitofits subject.Instead,historians frequentlaylludeto thepositiverelationshipbetweentheAwakeningandthe

Revolutionwithoutprobingthematterina freshs,ystematiwc ay.5 Thegapbetweentheenthusiasmofhistorianfs orthesocialandpoliticalsig-

nificanceoftheGreatAwakeningand its slim,peculiarhistoriographryaises

two importantissues. First, contemporariesnever homogenizedthe

eighteenth-centucroylonial religiousrevivalsby labelingthem"the Great

Awakening."Althoughsuchwordsappearin Edwards'sFaithfuNl arrativoef the SurprisingWorkof God, Edwardsused them alternatelywith other phrases,suchas "generalawakening,""greatalteration,"and"flourishinogf

religion,"onlyto describetheNorthamptonrevivalsof1734-1735.He never

capitalizedthemor gave themotherspecial emphasisand neverused the

phrase"the GreatAwakening"to evaluateall theprerevolutionaryevivals.

Rathert,hefirstpersontodo so was thenineteenth-centuhriystorianandanti-

quarianJosephTracy,whoused Edwards'sotherwiseunexceptionawl ordsas

thetitleofhis famous1842book,The GreatAwakeningT. ellinglyh, owever, Tracy'screationdid not findimmediatefavoramongAmericanhistorians.

' HeimertR, eligionand theAmericanMind;CedricB. Cowing,TheGreatAwakeningandthe AmericanRevolutionC: olonialThoughtin theEighteenthCentury(Chicago,1971);Bushman, FromPuritanto Yankee,183-220;EdwinScottGaustad,TheGreatAwakeningin New England (New York,1957); CharlesHartshornMaxson,The GreatAwakeningin theMiddleColonies (Chicago,1920);DietmarRothermundT,heLayman's ProgressR: eligiouasndPoliticalExperience in Colonial Pennsylvania.1740-1770 (Philadelphia,1961); WesleyM. Gewehr,The Great Awakeninign Virginia1,740-1790IDurham,N.C., 1930);JohnW.Jeffrie"sT,he Separationinthe CanterburCyongregationCalhurch:ReligionF, amily,andPoliticsina ConnecticuTtown,"New EnglandQuarterly5,2 (Dec. 1979),522-49;J.M. Burmsted"R, eligionF, inance,andDemocracyin MassachusettsT: he TownofNortonas a Case Study,"JournaolfAmericanHistory5, 7 (March 1971),817-31;JamesWalsh,"The GreatAwakeningintheFirstCongregationCalhurchofWoodbury,Connecticut,"Williamand MaryQuarterly2,8 (Oct. 1971),543-62; GeraldF. Moran, "ConditionsofReligiousConversionin theFirstSocietyofNorwichC, onnecticut1,718-1744," JournaolfSocialHistory5, (Spring1972),331-43;RobertSklar,"The GreatAwakeninagndColonial Politics:Connecticut'sRevolutionin the MindsofMen," ConnecticutHistoricalSociety Bulletin,28 (July1963),81-95; MartinE. Lodge,TiThCe risisoftheChurchesintheMiddleColonies,1720-1750,"PennsylvaniMa agazineofHistoryandBiography9,5 (April1971),195-220; HermanHarmelinkIll, "AnotherLookat FrelinghuyseanndHis 'Awakening,"C' hurchHistory, 37 (Dec. 1968),423-38. Fora superbguideto thevastbibliographoyfJonathanEdwardstudies, see NormanFieringJ, onathanEdwards'sMoral Thoughtand Its BritishContext(ChapelHill, 1981),371-79.

s See, for example, PatriciaTracy, JonathanEdwards,Pastor: Rcligionand Societyin th-CentuNroyrthampton(New York,1979), 194. Forexceptionsto thispatterns,ee HeimertR, cligionand theAmericanMlind;Cowing,GreatAwakeningM; cLoughlin",'EnthusiasmforLiberty,"4' 7-73.

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TheJournoaflAmericaHnistory

Charles Hodge discussed the Presbyterianrevivals in his Constitutional Historyof the PresbyteranChurchwithoutdescribingthem as partof a

"GreatAwakening,"whiletheinfluentiaRl obertBairdrefusedeven to treat theeighteenth-centurreyvivalsas discreteand importanetvents,muchless labelthem"theGreatAwakening."Bairdall butignoredtheserevivalsin the

chronologicalsegmentsof his Religionin America and mentionedthem elsewhereonlybyway ofexplainingthe intellectualoriginsofthe Unitarian movementw, hoseearlyleadersopposedrevivals.Thus,notuntilthelasthalf of the nineteenthcenturydid "the Great Awakening"become a familiar

featuroeftheAmericanhistoricalandscape. Second,thisparticularlabeloughttobe viewedwithsuspicion,notbecause

a historiancreatedit-historianslegitimatelymake senseoftheminutiaeof thepastbyutilizingsuchdevices-but becausethelabelitselfdoesseriousin-

justicetotheminutiaeitordersT. he label "theGreatAwakening"distortsthe extent,nature,and cohesionoftherevivalsthatdid existin theeighteenthcenturycolonies,encouragesunwarrantedclaimsfortheireffectosn colonial society,and exaggeratetsheirinfluenceon the comingand characterof the AmericanRevolution.If "the GreatAwakening"is not quite an American

DonationofConstantinei,tsappealtohistorianseekingto explaintheshap-

ingandcharacterofprerevolutionarAymericansocietygivesita politicaland

intellectuapl owerwhoseverysubtletyrequiresa closeinspectionofitsclaims

to truth.

How do historiansdescribe"the GreatAwakening"?Three pointsseem

especiallycommon.First,all but a fewdescribeit as a Calvinistreligious

revivalin whichconvertsacknowledgedtheirsinfulnesswithoutexpecting

salvation.These colonial convertstherebydistinguishedthemselvesfrom

Englishmencaught up in contemporaryMethodist revivals and from Americansinvolvedin theso-calledSecondGreatAwakeningoftheearlyna-

tional period,both of which imbibed Arminianprinciplesthat allowed

humansto believetheymighteffecttheirown salvationin ways thatJohn

6 CharlesHodge,ConstitutionaHl istoryof thePresbyteriaCnhurchin the UnitedStatesof America(2 vols.,Philadelphia1,851),A12,-122; RobertBaird,ReligioninAmericao, ranAccount oftheOriginsP, rogressR,elationtotheState,andPresentConditionoftheEvangelicaCl hurches in theUnitedStates(New York,1844),273-75. Edwardsused numerousphrasesand labelsto describethe revivalsin Northamptonin A FaithfulNarrativeof theSurprisingWorkof God. Amongthemare "generalawakening,' "greatawakenings,""verygeneralawakening,""great alteration,"revivalofreligion,""flourishinogfreligion,""a verygreatawakening,""awakenings,""legalawakenings,""firstawakenings,""awakeningsandencouragementsa,"nd "God's works."JonathanEdwardsA, FaithfulNarrativeof theSurprisingWorkofGod, in The Great Awakeninge,d. C. C. Goen (NewHaven,1972),145,150,153,155,156,160,162,163,164,167, 168,210.InnoneoftheseinstancesdidEdwardsuse thesephrasestodescribereligiousrevivalsin all ormostofthecolonies.This is trueas wellofhis writingin Some Thoughtcsoncerningthe PresentRevivalof Religionin New England(1743), in his prefaceto JosephBellamy'sTrue ReligionDelineated(1750),and in lettersdescribingrevivalswrittenbetween1741 and 1751. GreatAwakeninge,d. Goen,289-530,533-66,569-72. AlthoughJosephTracyentitledhisbook TheGreatAwakeningh,e seldomusedthelabelin thetext.JosephTracy,TheGreatAwakening: A HistoryoftheRevivalofReligionin theTimeofEdwardsand Whitefiel(dBoston,1842),1,35, 119,223,413,431.

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