2.3 Mass Movements of the 18th Century

Beginning in the 1740s, an intellectual movement that was spreading across Europe began to have an effect in the North American colonies and began to challenge ideas of authority. This Enlightenment ideology argued that people were formed by their environment. The most important philosopher of this new Enlightenment thought for the colonies was John Locke. In a series of essays, Locke argued that “[t]he aristocracy… were wealthy or successful because they had greater access to wealth, education, and patronage and not because they were innately superior.”¹ The cornerstone of developing this new Enlightenment thought was education. Above all, Enlightenment philosophers emphasized the acquisition of knowledge through reason. Education would cause individuals to be able to think for themselves instead of accepting tradition. This will have long-lasting implications.

The Enlightenment had an enormous impact on educated, and well-to-do people in the colonies. It supplied them with a common vocabulary and unified view of the world. A prime example of the American Enlightenment is Benjamin Franklin. At the age of 42, Franklin retired from the printing business to concentrate on his interest in experimentation. This curiosity and pursuit resulted in the development of a number of inventions for which Franklin is known such as bifocal spectacles, the lightning rod, and the Franklin stove. The experiments of the Enlightenment affected everyday Americans most directly through medicine, specifically in the “discovery” of a rudimentary inoculation against smallpox.

In addition to education, John Locke also had an impact on the development of political philosophy. His Two Treatises of Government directly challenged previous notions of divinely sanctioned power. Instead, Locke argued that men created government, therefore men can alter government. A ruler who broke his contract with the people and failed to protect their rights could and should be ousted from power through peaceful or violent means, if necessary.

Similarly, we see a basic dichotomy in the definition of representation come to a head in the mid-18th century. Great Britain defined representation virtually. By definition, the House of Commons, the lower house of the British Parliament represented all British subjects regardless of where they resided. As the colonists were “virtually” represented in Parliament, their consent to parliamentary law could be assumed. Most colonists believed in physical representation as they had practiced in their own colonial assemblies. Under this definition, only colonial representatives could possibly understand the unique needs and wishes of the colonies. As they had no colonial representation in Parliament, parliamentary law could not possibly apply to them. Prior to the aftermath of the Seven Years’ War, these two definitions co-existed, but events in the 1760s exposed the incompatibility of the definitions and set the stage for upcoming conflict.

The (First) Great Awakening

The most widespread movement of the era was a religious one. In many ways, this wave of Protestant revivalism contradicted Enlightenment rationalism. Economic and political uncertainty made people receptive to this message. During 1734 and 1735, Reverend Jonathan Edwards noticed an emotional reaction among young members of his Massachusetts’ congregation based on a message of innate and inherent sin. If a sinner recognized their own depraved nature and genuinely surrendered to God’s will, there would be an emotional release. This moment of emotional release was called the moment of conversion. The effects of these emotional conversions were relatively isolated until 1739. That year, an itinerant preacher by the name of George Whitefield traveled in the colonies preaching Calvinist sermons to large crowds. As Edwards had observed, Whitefield believed that if an individual truly recognized his or her sinfulness, then they would experience an emotional conversion. Whitefield “also argued that the current Church hierarchies populated by “unconverted” ministers only stood as a barrier between the individual and God. … Both Locke and Whitefield …empowered individuals to question authority and to take their lives into their own hands.”² With these radical ideas in place, the stage was set for a dramatic turn following the French and Indian War.

Notes

1. Joseph Locke and Ben Wright, eds., “Chapter 5,” The American Yawp: A Massively Collaborative Open US History Textbook (Redwood City, CA: Stanford University Press, 2018), II. The Origins of the American Revolution, at http://www.americanyawp.com/text/05-the-american-revolution/.
2. Locke, “Chapter 5, “ II. The Origins of the American Revolution.