"I saw a cloud of horsemen and footmen riding on the road... I supposed it might have been the Governor or some great man, but as I came nearer the meeting-house, I saw shapes of men, and trees, and houses, all dim and visionary... When I saw Mr. Whitefield come upon the scaffold, he looked almost angelical... He looked as though he was clothed with authority from the great God." — Nathan Cole, journal entry on traveling to hear George Whitefield preach at Middletown, Connecticut (October 1740)
Historians often argue that the Awakening helped lay groundwork for revolutionary politics by:
- Acheck_circle
Encouraging colonists to challenge established religious and civic authority
- B
Persuading colonists that Parliament's authority was divinely ordained
- C
Discouraging the spread of newspapers and pamphlets
- D
Replacing English Common Law with biblical legal codes
Explanation
By legitimizing lay critique of ordained ministers and emphasizing individual conscience, the Awakening encouraged habits of questioning authority that historians link to later revolutionary mobilization.