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U.S. History 1877-Present 3: The First Great Awakening 3571 Views


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Description:

Today we're going to learn about Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and their roles in the First Great Awakening. Awakening to some guys screaming about burning alive for all of eternity doesn't seem all that "great" to us, but what do we know?

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:03

The first Great Awakening had plenty of fiery leaders stoking the [Fork stoking a fire]

00:07

flames but there definitely were two VIPs the first was a guy named Jonathan

00:13

Edwards he was a young yale graduate and a valedictorian to boot so yeah his

00:17

mother was oh so proud Edwards power came from the fact that he [Edwards graduating and mother screams]

00:21

had a very persuasive religious message for the people what was it that they all

00:27

suck and God was mad at them basically Edwards told people that God was [God points finger at crowd of people]

00:32

seriously ticked off at them for their horrible sinfulness and here's a fun

00:36

quote Edwards said that God was dangling the people over the pit of hell much as [God dangling man over pit of fire]

00:42

one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire Wow what did that

00:49

spider ever do wrong that quote came from Edwards famous 1741 sermon sinners

00:54

in the hands of an angry god in this sermon and in other Edwards came up with [Sermons appear]

01:00

many horrific descriptions of Hell that caused many listeners to cry and well

01:04

generally go nuts Edwards goal was to awaken people get it [Spirit of woman appears from casket]

01:08

to the danger of torment that he believed awaited those who hadn't

01:12

accepted Jesus as their Savior some might say well sounds horrifying why

01:18

would anyone want to listen to that well in an age when any type of passion was [Man riding a horse]

01:22

viewed as ungodly people were pretty excited about hearing a preacher who put

01:26

so much emotion into his sermon also if a person became convinced that eternal

01:30

damnation was real and it was a pretty strong motivator people were so moved by [Spirit trapped in cage and devil woman appears]

01:35

Edwards terrifying images that they flocked to him like teenyboppers to

01:38

a Justin Bieber appearance or should we say be Berenson no we should not say

01:44

that our second VP of the awakening was mr. George Whitefield like Edwards he

01:49

was a younger guy and he quickly became a popular revivalist leader in his [George in church and girls wave arms aloft]

01:53

native England over the course of several trips to the American colonies

01:57

Whitefield gained a massive following his ideas were not necessarily new but [Whitefield in a boat and people following behind]

02:02

his unique preaching style drew crowds so big they couldn't fit in a church so

02:07

Whitefield took his act outside and began outdoor camp meetings where people [Whitefield camping with people in black costumes]

02:12

sang songs a little fiercer than kumbaya

02:15

Whitefield's camp meetings were a sight to behold

02:18

crying fainting rolling on the ground all this stuff went down [People crying and rolling on the ground at camp meeting]

02:21

why pay to go to the theater when you could go to these dramatic performances

02:25

for free a Whitefield was one of the founders of the Methodist Church but [Whitefield plants flag at church]

02:30

American religion in general is still feeling the impact of his camp meeting

02:34

we think about them every time we roast a weenie [Man roasting a sausage over camp fire]

02:36

well sinful weenies anyway

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