Essay question analysis and response

Colonial Development

The progression of the maturity of the English colonies within North America can certainly be marked by the passage of time. Therefore, it is accurate to state that the colonies of the mid-18th century, spanning from approximately 1700 to 1750, had matured in a number of ways in terms of freedom of thought. However, the progression of the maturation of religious freedom and economic freedom was a lot slower in coming, and took more time beyond the mid-18th century -- although the beginning of this progression could be demonstrated at this time. Once the intellectual climate of the day spread into these religious realms, greater freedom of expression and religious belief would be accounted for. A number of fairly important events within the history of the fledgling colonies demonstrate the truth of these statements.

The single most important movement of the 18th century, which had its roots in the end of the 17th century, was the intellectual sensibilities advocated by and pertaining to the Enlightenment. This conception originally sprouted from Europe before eventually finding its way to the colonies. It was a highly secular movement that championed the prowess and capability of mankind vs. that of God. Prior to the Enlightenment, there were few people who would challenge God's reign and his hand in the fate of their lives, as well as in the doings of other people. The Enlightenment, however, spawned "alternate" religious beliefs such as Deism, which held that the power, grace and glory of God was responsible for the creation of the universe and for mostly everything in it. However, Deists believed that after this initial construction, God removed himself from the daily affairs of the people and it was up to man's ability, his "enlightenment," his intellect and his own motivation to control his destiny -- whereas popular religious thought of the day believed that God was responsible for all of these things.

To that end, there certainly was a lessening of the limitation of freedom of thought within the colonies, particularly when one considers that many of the most influential members of the colonists, who would go on to become known as the Founding Fathers, believed in intellectual thought and actually subscribed to the philosophy of Deism. Science and personal achievement was valued significantly more than religious devotion under the principles and ideas of the Enlightenment. Several of the more radical notions that stemmed from Europe during the Enlightenment were available to the colonists due to the printing press, and the movement was able to yield tangible results, such as the separation of most colleges (all of which started out being highly religious in nature) from religion by 1750.

However, at the same time the onset of what many scholars regard as the first truly national event within the history of the fledgling United States of America took place throughout the 1740's, and indicated that the traditional religious beliefs that mandated a strict following of God would not so easily be overturned. The Great Awakening largely begin when George Whitefield, an Oxford-trained Anglican minster who came to Georgia in 1738, began touring through the lands pronouncing that people had limited time to repent before they were consumed by the fires of hell. This perspective certainly adhered to that which was shared by many of the pilgrims and puritans who initially began the colonies in the 17th century. Jonathan Edwards was another influential factor in this movement, and delivered a number of influential sermons during the early years of the 1740s in which he claimed damnation awaited anyone who would not readily repent before God.

The crux of this situation, and its relation to the freedom of thought in both religious and political situations, was that the Great Awakening very well may be considered a response to the Enlightenment. However, the result of the Great Awakening, particularly in light of the current thoughts and sentiments disseminated by Enlightenment thinkers, is that there was a substantial increase in religious toleration. People did not have to go found other colonies -- and states -- if they did not conform to the rhetoric of the Great Awakening, the way they had to during the 17th century if their religious views were different than those that governed the colony they were in. Instead, there was an increased separation of the realms of church and state as had never before been present in the colonies.