America's Second Great Awakening

George Whitefield, from the First Great Awakening

Did God use the social scourge of the Harpes' killing spree to spark, or at least fuel, America's Second Great Awakening?

It's a question I found myself contemplating while researching for my recent release, The Blue Cloak. In the various accounts of the travels of the notorious Harpes, mention is made of them camping at the site of a recent revival meeting near Russellville, Kentucky. What an odd choice, I thought. Further investigation revealed that an entire movement took place in the region, attributed in Wikipedia as the Revival of 1800. The article explains the custom of "sacrament seasons," begun in Scotland but carried over onto the frontier of America, and how the camp meeting grew out of it. Obviously there were revival meetings happening even before 1800, but it gave me cause to wonder--how much did the terror of the Harpes drive folk to their knees and bring to light their individual need for redemption? And how much did the corporate prayers which doubtlessly were offered around the region for the ending of the Harpes' reign of terror affect the wider move of the Holy Spirit?

The Second Great Awakening, as it was called, had already been taking place in New England during the 1790's. Earlier waves of revival, all up up and down the Eastern Seaboard in the 1730's and into the 1750's, are referred to as the First Great Awakening, influenced by the preaching of Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and others. Some accounts state John Wesley as an influence, but I find it interesting that after an unsuccessful ministerial venture in Savannah, Georgia, he found his own spiritual revival through conversations with the Moravians, and then went on to preach all across England and lead many souls to Christ. All such movements were marked by what some condemned as unnecessary emotionalism, but had the undeniable effect of drawing people closer to God in their personal lives and shifting their focus from things of a purely material nature to the more spiritual. (Sound a bit like our own times?)

The revivals happening in New England in the 1790's are noted as being less emotional, though, than what took place in southern Kentucky and spread throughout the region, including Tennessee and southern Illinois and Indiana. Wiki comments, "Early settlers were fiercely independent and egalitarian; skilled with the long rifle; and fond of fighting, gambling, tobacco chewing, and horse racing." (Not terribly different, then, from what we know of the Harpes, before they went public with their criminal career.) In summary, frontier folk were considered to be a people ruled more by their passions than by intellectual reason, so it's likely no small wonder that when moved by the Spirit, they committed to God with that same headlong passion.

And it would be just like God to use something as awful as a crime spree to fan the flames of revival.

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If you're interested in reading more:

• The Great Awakening of the Early 18th Century (ThoughtCo.)
• Great-Awakening.com
• Great Awakening - HISTORY
• Great Awakening - Britannica
• The First Great Awakening, by our own Tamera Kraft (don't miss her other articles under the "Great Awakening" label!)

The Most Popular Man in Colonial America

by Tamera Lynn Kraft

There were many men of great achievement in Colonial America in the years before the Revolutionary War. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, and the Adams brothers were becoming known for their criticism of taxes. The Wesley brothers preached throughout America and had a great following. Even George Washington had made a name for himself during the French and Indian War. But the most popular man in 1700s America was George Whitefield, the fiery Great Awakening revivalist that changed the colonies forever.

Well known actor of the time, David Garrick said, "I would give a hundred guineas, if I could say 'Oh' like Mr. Whitefield." Newspapers called him the "marvel of the age".  When he preached for the first time in Philadelphia, even the largest churches couldn't hold the crowds of 8,000 people every night. Every city he preached in would bring out crowds larger than the population of the city. He was also one of the first to allow slaves to attend his meetings. It is estimated in his lifetime he preached 18,000 sermons to over ten million people.

Benjamin Franklin was one of the crowd who attended the services in Philadelphia and was greatly impressed. Franklin was a deist and believed God didn't personally interfere in the lives of men. Even though he never converted, he became a lifelong friend of Whitefield's and even handled the publicity for the evangelistic crusades. After one of Whitefield's messages, Franklin wrote, "wonderful... change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants. From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seem'd as if all the world were growing religious, so that one could not walk thro' the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street."

Even though he was popular, Whitefield did face opposition. Some complained about him allowing slaves at his meetings. Some Calvinists were angry with his close relationship with the Wesley Brothers, strong Armenians. Others felt his emotionalism and appeal for everyone to have a personal relationship with Christ was over the top. When he first started preaching in England, the leaders of the Anglican Church wouldn't even assign him a pulpit. That's when he began preaching in open fields and parks. Through it all, the great response to the Gospel every time Whitefield preached drown out any backlash. Of the opposition, he said, “the more I am opposed, the more joy I feel.”

He was in no way an ordinary Anglican preacher. His messages were powerful. He was said to portray Bible characters in a realistic way. Jonathan Edwards's wife, Sarah, remarked, "He makes less of the doctrines than our American preachers generally do and aims more at affecting the heart. He is a born orator." During the revival service. Once while preaching about eternity, he stopped and said, "Hark! Methinks I hear [the saints] chanting their everlasting hallelujahs, and spending an eternal day in echoing forth triumphant songs of joy. And do you not long, my brethren, to join this heavenly choir?"

The spiritual revival Whitefield ignited, the Great Awakening, became one of the most formative events in American history and forged the spiritual character and unity or the soon to be nation. His last sermon, in 1770 shortly before his death, was given at Boston Commons before 23,000 people, the largest gathering in American history to that point.

David Brainerd - Colonial Missionary to Native Americans

by Tamera Lynn Kraft

David Brainerd was born in 1718 in Connecticut. His father was in the legislature but died when he was only fourteen. His mother died five years later leaving him an orphan. He inherited a farm in Durham but didn't like farming. On July 12, 1739, David had a salvation experiance he later recorded as an experiance of "unspeakable glory" that prompted in him a "hearty desire to exalt [God], to set him on the throne and to seek first his Kingdom."

Two months later, he enrolled at Yale University. A year later, he was sent home to recover from an illness many believed to be the onset of tuberculosis, the disease that later killed him. When he returned to Yale in 1740, tensions were high. The Great Awakening had broken out, and the faculty considered the exuberance and zeal of the students who were converted in the Awakening to be excessive.

Because of the criticism, Yale initiated a policy that if students questioned the spirituality of the professors, they would be required to give a public confession the first time and expelled the second time. The faculty invited Jonathan Edwards to preach the same day hoping he would side with them. Instead, Edwards called to account the sins of the faculty in preventing the student from wholeheartedly seeking God.

The next term, Brainerd was expelled because it was said that he commented that one of his tutors, Chauncey Whittelsey, "has no more grace than a chair" and that he wondered why the Rector "did not drop down dead' for fining students perceived as over-zealous. He later apologized for the first comment, but denied making the second. Yale refused to reinstate him. Brainerd was mortified for his conduct and regretted it for the rest of his life.

He was licensed to preach by an organization of evangelicals called the New Light. He was not offered and pastorate because of what happened at Yale and decided God had called him to be a missionary to Native Americans. His first missionary endeavor was near Nassau, New York. Later he was assigned to work among the Delaware Indians along the Delaware River. There he start a Native American school and translated the Psalms into the Delaware language. Then he moved to New Jersey where, within a year, he established a church with 130 Native American members. Even though he was reluctant at first to minister to the Indians, after a few years, he refused many offer to leave the mission field and become a pastor, but he refused them all. He wrote in his journal that despite the difficulties, his only desire was to serve God by ministering to Indians.

In 1746, Brainerd became too sick to continue and stayed at the home of Jonathan Edwards to recover. During that time, he was nursed by Edwards daughter, Jerusha. He and Jerusha fell in love. A year later, he died of tuberculosis at age 29 in 1747. Jerusha died in February, 1748 after contracting his disease. His ministry to Indians in his short life was not his only legacy. His journals and writing were distributed by Jonathan Edwards and became popular during the second Great Awakening.

Tamera Lynn Kraft has always loved adventures and writes Christian historical fiction set in America because there are so many adventures in American history. She has received 2^nd place in the NOCW contest, 3^rd place TARA writer’s contest, and was a finalist in the Frasier Writing Contest. Her novellas Resurrection of Hope and A Christmas Promise are available on Amazon and at Barnes and Noble.

Sarah Edwards - Pastor's Wife and Mother of Legacy

by Tamera Lynn Kraft

Sarah Edwards is often overlooked when the First Great Awakening of the 1700s is mentioned, but her legacy and contribution to her husband's ministry are enormous.  Over fourteen hundred descendants of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards have been traced in 1900 by A.E. Winship. Of these, fourteen became college presidents, roughly one hundred became professors, another one hundred ministers, and about the same number became lawyers or judges. Nearly sixty became doctors, and others were authors or editors.

Sarah Pierpont was born in 1710. Her father, James Pierpont, was one of the founders of Yale University. Sarah was known for her love of God at an early age. When she was 13, Jonathan was attending Yale at age 16. He would often wait outside Pierpont's church to catch a glimpse of her. He had this to say about her.

"They say there is a young lady in New Haven who is loved of that Great Being, who made and rules the world, and that there are certain seasons in which this Great Being, in some way or other invisible, comes to her and fills her mind with exceeding sweet delight; and that she hardly cares for anything, except to meditate on Him…You could not persuade her to do any thing wrong or sinful, if you would give her all the world, lest she should offend this Great Being. She is of a wonderful sweetness, calmness, and universal benevolence of mind; especially after this Great God has manifested himself to her mind. She will sometimes go about from place to place, singing sweetly; and seems to be always full of joy and pleasure…She loves to be alone... and seems to have some one invisible always conversing with her.”

Sarah Pierrepont married Jonathan Edwards on July 28, 1727 at the age of 17. Jonathan was serious and scholarly. Sarah was beautiful and enjoyed conversation. As far as their personalities, they couldn't be further apart, but what attracted them to each other is their love for God.

Jonathan and Sarah had 11 children, 3 sons and 8 daughters. She prayed consistently for her children and was known for her parenting skills. She treated her children with gentleness and firmness. Although Jonathan contributed with child-rearing making sure he spent at least one hour with the child every day when he wasn't traveling, most of the parenting was done by Sarah. All of their children became pastors or married pastors.

Jonathan was also known as being absent-minded, spending as much as 13 hours a day in study, so Sarah was responsible for maintaining the household and keeping things going.One remarkable thing for that time period was Jonathan's attitude toward Sarah. He valued her intelligence and not only relied on her to manage his personal affairs, but she also helped him with the ministry.

In 1734-1735, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Northampton and the surrounding ares erupted. Jonathan was at the center of that outpouring, but Sarah experienced it too. Jonathan asked his wife to write a testimony about her experience, and she wrote a long one. One phrased she used to describe it was being "swallowed up in God".

When George Whitefield, Great Awakening preacher, visited Jonathan and Sarah Edwards in 1730, he said, "A sweeter couple I have not yet seen" and wrote about the peaceful home Sarah had created and how she freely talked about the things of God. He called her a perfect helpmeet for her husband and determined to get married himself.

In 1750, Sarah was by Jonathan's side when he struggled with the congregation at Northampton Church. He would not allow the members of his church to take communion unless they had a salvation experience. This angered many of them because the town council had to be communicants of the Congregational Church to hold on to their government positions. The last pastor, Solomon Stoddard who was Jonathan Edwards' grandfather, had allowed anyone to take communion regardless of their salvation.

Many in the church came against Jonathan when he asked for a raise in his stipend due to rising costs. The church said they would only consent after investigating the Edwards' material affairs. Some were outraged that their extravagant minister had two wigs and two teapots! Jonathan denied possessing even one wig although he did admit they had several teapots. The congregation used this excuse to fire him.

Edwards was still in high demand and in 1751, became pastor of the church in Stockbridge, Massachusetts and a missionary to the Housatonic Indians. In 1757, Jonathan became President of the College of New Jersey now known as Princeton. 

Jonathan died on March 22, 1758 when he contracted smallpox. He was out of town, so Sarah couldn't be with him when he died. He did leave a deathbed message for her. Sarah became ill during an epidemic in September 1759 and died at the age of 49.

Sarah was a woman who loved God, her husband, and her children. In many ways, she was a woman who was ahead of her time. She left a legacy that is still alive today.

 

How a Native American Brought the Great Awakening to Indians

by Tamera Lynn Kraft

Samson Occom was born in a wigwam in 1723, part of the the Mohegan tribe near New London, Connecticut. His parents were Joshua and Sarah Ockham. He was a direct descendant of Uncas, a famous Mohegan chief. The Mohegan lived as nomads and traveled often.

At the age of 16, Occom heard his first sermon during the Great Awakening. His mother Sarah was one of the first Mohegan converts. Samson was stirred by what he heard and began to study English so he could read the Bible for himself. A year later he became a Christian under the preaching of James Davenport. He started going to a school for Indians and white boys started by evangelist Eleazar Wheelock. He spent four years at Wheelock’s school and was a gifted student, but poor eyesight prevented him from going to college.

He taught school and ministered to the Montauk Indians for eleven years. He used many creative methods including singing and card games as teaching devices. When Azariah Horton, the white Presbyterian minister to the Montauk, retired, Samson took his place as pastor. Samson married Mary Fowler in 1751, and  they had ten children.

Samson was paid by the church but received a much smaller salary than the white men doing the same job. To make ends meet, he bound books and carved spoons, pails, and gunstocks for his white neighbors. Despite the prejudice he faced, Samson was ordained in 1759 by the Presbyterian Church, one of the first Native Americans to be ordained.

His passion was to share the Gospel with other Native Americans and was commission by the Scotch Society of Missions to preach to the Cherokee in Georgia and Tennessee. Fighting among the Cherokee and white settles put those plans on hold, so instead Samson went to New York to preach among the Oneida.

In 1765 Samson traveled with George Whitefield, Great Awakening preacher, during his sixth preaching tour in the colonies. Later that year, he traveled to England with Nathaniel Whitaker to raise money for Wheelock’s Indian Charity School. Over the next two years, he preached over 200 sermons in England and was well received. He raised over 11,000 pounds, the most ever raised for a ministry in the colonies. While in England Samson visited with John Newton, writer of Amazing Grace, and received an honorary degree from the University of Edinburgh which he politely declined.

When he returned to America in 1768, Samson found that Wheelock had failed to care for his wife and children as Wheelock had promised. Samson’s family was living in poverty. The rift widened when he learned Wheelock had used the money he’d raised to move the school to New Hampshire and decided to exclude Indians. Wheelock renamed the school Dartmouth.

Samson was a prolific writer throughout his lifetime. He kept a diary from 1743 to 1790 about his work that became an historic document. In 1772, Samson preached a temperance sermon at the execution of a Native American who murdered a man while he was drunk. That sermon became a best seller. He also wrote and published hymns. He is recognized as the first Native American to become published.

When Samson became a defender of land claim of the Montauk and Oneida against speculators, false rumors were spread that he was a heavy drinker and not even a Mohegan. Although these reports were untrue, he lost the support of his denomination and several missionary societies. He wrote an autobiography to defend himself, but it did little good.

Throughout the 1770s and 1780s, Samson preached among the Mohegan and other tribes in new England. After the Revolutionary War, he settled in Brothertown, New Yourt on a reservation for New England Indians where he establish the first Indian Presbyterian Church. As he gather wood to finish the church building in 1791, he died.

His legacy continued after his death through his children, students, and converts who also ministered to Native American. Two students later became authors like their teacher.

The Great Awakening Influences the American Revolution

 

In the 1730s and 1740s, a spiritual fervency swept the American colonies. It was called the First Great Awakening. Fiery ministers like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield preached about having a deep personal relationship with Jesus Christ and a standard of personal holiness. Many cast off the religious traditions of relying on the religious leaders to tell people what God wanted and started searching the Scriptures and seeking their own relationship with Jesus. Even many church goers had salvation experiences. This caused a revolution in the church, but that was only the beginning of more than one revolution.

Whitefield preached at both Harvard and Yale. At Harvard, it was reported, “The entire college has changed. The students are full of God.” Whitefield became so popular that he drew daily crowds of 8,000 people. In Boston, he drew a crowd of 23,000, larger than the entire population of Boston at the time. Even Benjamin Franklin wrote about the impact of his preaching. He was the cultural hero of the day.

The impact was huge. In New England alone, 25,000 to 50,000 people joined the church and claimed to have salvation experiences. When Jonathan Edwards preached “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, people held on to the posts of the church for hear they would go to Hell before they had a chance to repent. Many universities sprang up for the purpose of training ministers. The colonies united under the umbrella of revival.

It affected the political thought in the colonies as well. People became more democratic believing that the church should be self-governed, not governed by the state. It also welcome people from every walk of life. The church became a melting pot elevating all members of society as equals. As the colonies united in democratic thought, the Church of England – the Anglican Church, sought to crush this awakening causing a divide between England and the colonies.

Founding fathers were also influenced by the Great Awakening:

• John Adams studied at Harvard and considered becoming a minister.
• Samuel Adams was deeply impacted and sought a political revolution to separate the church from England’s influence.
• Benjamin Franklin and George Whitefield were friends. Some believe Franklin might have become a Christian in latter life.
• James Madison was very devout and fought for freedom of religion and checks and balances in government because of the depravity of man.
• John Witherspoon published several books on the Gospel.
• Although there’s no direct connection between George Washington and the Great Awakening, we know that Washington was a devout Christian who even wrote a prayer book.
• 54 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were devout Christians. Only Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson were not.
• The first act of the Continental Congress was to pray. They prayed at the beginning of every session, and they prayed before voting to declare independence and signing the Declaration of Independence.

The Great Awakening started a spiritual revival that led to the American Revolution and the birth of modern democracy.

The First Great Awakening Changed America

In the mid 1700s, traveling evangelists like Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and John Wesley preached along the countryside of the British colonies, and the seeds were planted for America to become a great nation.

It really started almost 100 years earlier, in 1630, when John Winthrop, one of the Pilgrims, preached a sermon entitled A City on a Hill. The text for the verse was Matthew 5:14  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Winthrop said that God ordained the colonies in America to be that city on a hill. They were the New Jerusalem that would evangelize the world with the Gospel.

Over the next eighty years, colonists forgot those awesome words and had drawn away from God. Church attendance was at an all time low, and few felt Christianity played a major role in their lives. Church service were dry and dull, and most who did go to church did so out of religious duty.

When these preachers came on the scene it changed America for the better. They were fiery, emotional, and commanded attention. When Jonathan Edwards preached Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God, it was reported members of the congregation held on to the church beams fearing the wrath of God and the fire of Hell. Conviction spread all over the colonies, and people responded by having a "born again" experience with God that changed their lives forever.

Many denominations rose up during this awakening including Methodists, Presbyterians, and Baptists. Christians now felt they could have a personal experience with God and learn Scripture and doctrine for themselves instead of only relying on church leaders. Congregational leadership was determined by the congregations, not by church headquarters.

One of the biggest changes that took place during this awakening was that everyone was included. Slaves and poor men came to the meetings and were saved. It created a national unity and identity that later set the stage for the American Revolution where men fought for One Nation Under God. not a nation ruled by a denomination or a state church. The colonies had learned that the people decide on the leaders that rule them instead of letting the rulers dictate their nation's politics and religion.

The Modern Missionary Movement started in Colonial Times

Tamera Lynn Kraft

America is well known for the modern missionary movement. The missionary movement is credited with starting in the mid 1800s, but it really started with a 100 year prayer movement in colonial times. The people who started this movement were called the Moravians.

In 1727, a group of Moravians in Saxony started a round the clock prayer meeting that lasted 110 years. By 1737, Moravians had settled in Savannah, Georgia to share the Gospel. At this time, they met John Wesley, from the first Great Awakening and had a profound impact on his ministry.

In 1741, the Moravians moved to an estate owned by John Whitfield, another preacher from the Great Awakening, and started ministering to the Delaware Indians in the region. They established the town of Bethlehem and Nazareth in Pennsylvania and moved throughout the colonies sharing the Gospel wherever they went.

By 1772, the Delaware were being pushed into Ohio, and the Moravians followed them. They set up two villages there, one in Schoenbrunn and one in Gnadenhutten. They risked great dangers, not only from the other tribes but from the British forces once the Revolutionary War began. The British accused the Moravians of informing the colonialist about troop movements, a charge that was true.

The Moravians finally abandoned their villages to move on because of the dangers, but when the converted Delaware returned to Gnadenhutten to harvest their crops, they were massacred by American soldiers who mistakenly thought they were raiders.

There aren't that many Moravian in the United States today because the left America to evangelize other parts of the world. But they are a huge part of the missionary movement in America and paved the way for other missionaries.

On December 1st, my Christmas novella published by Harbourlight is being released. It's about one missionary family in Schoenbrunn and they dangers they faced. It's called A Christmas Promise.

Colonel Samuel Harris, Preaching Amidst Oppostion

"Glory! Glory! Glory!" 

Colonel Samuel Harris, 1758.

Samuel Harris shouted these words when roused from his prayer, having just been converted to a deep conviction that true salvation came from faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ for payment for his sins, and of the need of a new birth for all men.

A prominent member of society and the militia, Colonel Samuel had discovered he was a hopless sinner. On route to perform official visits at forts in Virginia, he stopped by a small house where Baptists Joseph and William Murphy were preaching. Not wanting to draw attention to himself (being in military dress), he sat behind a loom. But God found him.  Convicted of his need for Christ to be his Saviour, Colonel Harris fell before the Lord in prayer. 

Soon this man began to preach the gospel to the soldiers and officers of Fort Mayo. He continued to preach, sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every person who would listen. He devoted his wealth and property to preaching, giving his new residence over to use of public worship and chosing to live in his old home.

The Dunking of David Barrow and Edward Mintz

As his ministry grew, so did the persecution he experienced. In Culpeper he was driven from the pulipt by a mob with sticks, whips and clubs. In Orange County he was pulled down and dragged by hair and leg. He was arrested and ordered not to preach, but this didn't stop him. He and his companion, James Reed, started as many as two hundred churches.

This man mirrored the life of the Apostle Paul.

"Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness." II Corinthians 11:23-27

I wonder how many of today's evangelists would be willing to endure the persecutions these men endured. The doctrine of appealing publicity and marketing is pounded into the hearts and minds of writers and speakers alike, but is that pleasing to God? These men had one message: God's plan of salvation through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as payment for our sins. They adamantly preached that there is no other way to come to God.

Why were these men willing to endure such sufferings? For the love of Christ and of man, and for the glory of God.

In Paul's words:

"For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death. 

"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

"But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not....

"And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for the furtherance and joy of faith;" Philippians 1:19-25

I know that my own forthrightness in speaking the Gospel has caused others to scorn me, to tell me I shouldn't be so bold. However, what persecution I have experienced is the kiss of flowers compared to what preachers, such as Colonel Samuel Harris, endured. I must follow their example and continue in what God has called me to do. 

How about you? Are you listening to the Holy Spirit's prompting you to serve Him with the same fervor as these great men of God?