Dbq Essay: The Great Awakening

The Age of Enlightenment saw many great changes in Western Europe. It was an age of reason and philosophes. During this age, changes the likes of which had not been seen since ancient times took place. Such change affected evert pore of Western European society. Many might argue that the Enlightenment really did not bring any real change, however, there exists and overwhelming amount of facts which prove, without question, that the spirit of the Enlightenment was one of change-specifically change which went against the previous teachings of the Catholic Church. Such change is apparent in the ideas, questions, and philosophies of the time, in the study of science, and throughout the monarchial system.

The Renaissance challenged the status quo of the Middle Ages. During the Middle Ages, the Church had authority over most people. These people also had limited rights. All of this changed during the Renaissance. This period of time focused on the philosophy of humanism, which embodied the idea that humans were a significant part of the world. The Renaissance changed man’s view of man through the institutions of literature, astronomy, anatomy, and art.

‘Reform movements in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals. Assess the validity of this statement with specific reference to the years 1825-1850.’

Analyze the extent to which these values and purposes were transformed and challenged over time.

The Enlightenment formed off of another movement known as the Scientific Revolution in the seventeenth century. The Scientific Revolution brought about new scientific discoveries especially in Astronomy changing the preconceptions of how the cosmos affect the natural world. These dramatic discoveries made people question the existing political and social orders. The Enlightenment challenged the traditional hierarchical ideals such as a king’s divine right to rule, the privileges of nobility, and the political power of religion. It also inspired the ideals of individual determination, freedom and equality, and the basic principles of human reason and natural rights.

The first half of the nineteenth century, for the Americans, was a time of growth and development. A new nation like the US was looking for its own characteristics and traits. Religion was drastically changed in the SGA. New religious groups desired equality and more rights. The Second Great Awakening resulted in a new and different society because of religious based ideas from reformers that demanded changes in the growing nation of America.

The Great Awakening was a fervent religious movement that had a significant impact on the Protestant people and shaped new congregations deriving from the “’New Light’ revivalist and ‘Old Light’ traditionalists.” (Brinkley, p.83) The apex of the Great Awakening was between the 1730s and 1740s, offering the colonial people a deeper sense of spiritual improvement by preaching’s that made faith the center of personal focus. The Great Awakening was the result of neglection of spiritual guidance among the Protestant believers in the Colonies, which was revived by the teachings of Congregationalist Jonathan Edwards.

The Revolution of 1800 concluded with Thomas Jefferson elected as the third president of the United States and the political power passed from the Federalists to the Democratic-Republicans.

23. Great Awakening – a Christian revitalization movement that swept Protestant Europe and British America

There are many important marks in history, especially all over the world. The Enlightenment thinkers contributed greatly to our world today. Many things would be different today if the Enlightenment and these contributors didn’t succeed. Each thinker, from John Locke, to Mary Wollstonecraft each had different ideas that were a big part of the Enlightenment. I’m going to give the main ideas of these Enlightenment thinkers and more in the following paragraphs.

Elaborate on the Great Awakening. How did the movement impact the ideological development of the colonies?

Could 350 years change man’s view of the world forever? The Renaissance lasted from 1350 until about 1700. The Renaissance started after the Middle Ages which lasted from 500 C.E. to 1350. During the Renaissance, people saw themselves in a new way. However, there are three main reasons that the Renaissance changed man’s view of the world: art, scientific discoveries, and literature.

Throughout The Awakening, a novel by Kate Chopin, the main character, Edna Pontellier showed signs of a growing depression. There are certain events that hasten this, events which eventually lead her to suicide.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin introduces the reader to the life of Edna Pontellier, a woman with an independent nature searching for her true identity in a patriarchal society that expects women to be nothing more than devoted wives and nurturing mothers.

The 18th century is referred to as the ‘Age of Enlightenment’. The trends in thought and letters from Europe to the American colonies brought a new light and attention upon mankind. This new movement described a time in Western philosophy and cultural life in which reason was advocated as the primary source and legitimacy for authority. ‘To understand the natural world and humankinds place in it solely on the basis of reason and without turning to religious belief was the goal of the wide-ranging intellectual movement’ (Hackett). At the heart o this age, a conflict began between religion and the inquiring mind that wanted to know and understand through reason based on evidence and proof rather than belief on faith alone.