US History From a Brasilian's Perspective

If you had looked around in the beginning of the 18th century, you would have found that the influence and emphasis on religion had dropped dramatically from the time of the Pilgrims and then suddenly spiked to a major high in the 30's and 40's (Not the 1900's, Ladies and Gentlemen, the 1700s). This spike, or "revival", of religion is known as the Great Awakwning.

Unlike their ancestors, the population in the Americas was becoming less and less religious since the turn of the 18th century. They weren't attracted to the boring and long sermons of preachers and would rather work (and get money) then sit in a pew for hours on end. So, as churchgoes became fewer, churches began to do whatever they could to gain support. They began to loosen up on regulations and the qualifications needed to become a member. But by doing so, they lost a part of their own "holiness" and spiritualism that made up the church in the first place. Also, new ideas of theology about what saves and what doesn't began to appear, threatening the validity of religious leaders and doctine. Neddless to say, everything spiritual was starting to go in a steep downward spiral.

However, the Great Awakening stopped this downward spiral. Beginning with Jonathan Edwards's firey sermons of hell and eternal damnation, the churchgoers were whipped into a God-fearing people. He was soon followed by other energetic preachers like George Whitefield (although technically he was a parson...). Whitefield traveled throughout the colonies, sharing his dramatic and entertaining sermons about the "helpless human's" need of divine mercy. Going to church became something to do at night for entertainment, which meant that many more people began to go to church and "convert" to one religion or another. The population connected with the moving messages and began re-immersing themselves in religion.

As religion once again became a prominent part of society, the colonists began to play with the idea of the seperation of church and state. This can be considered a somewhat radical idea at that time because their ancestors and most of the laws that they lived by had been formed off of the existing religious morals and rules. So, church and state had already been fused together for a while. But, the Awakening was like a catalyst for new ideas of politics and religion. This was mainly because the religion born in the Awakening was completely focused on emotion. With this "arousing of senses", the people experiencing conversion began to think of religion as something close and personal. And who wants their personal feelings all over something as public as politics? Furthermore, while going to an energetic church could be conisdered entertainment, there was also a big amount of spiritualism present. Therefore, it would make sense to assume that the people who felt holy and connected to their faith wanted to seperate church from state in order to keep their souls clear of the corrupt officials. It was through this feeling of aversion to a religious state that the Great Awakening helped the ideal of seperate church and state evolve.