The Great Awakening

1730-1750 Focused on Salvation of the “Natural” or unsaved Greatly influenced the Middle and Southern Colonies Literature was focused on the mission of recruiting Christians 1730-1750

Literary Connection “Sinners…” by J. Edwards The sermon was given in Enfield, CT on July 8, 1741 to a relatively small congregation The fervor of the speech made Edwards a well known orator during the Great Awakening The sermon’s main purpose was to inform of the Hell that awaits the unsaved. Literary Connection

The Great Enlightenment (Age of Enlightenment)

Was a response to the religious fervor created by the Great Awakening and the American and French Revolutions Focus shifted from God to creation, reason, and science Inventors were plentiful in the time and scientific knowledge compounded 1750-1800

Literary Connection The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Franklin was the embodiment of the Enlightenment – smart, worldly, and a lover of both art and science His autobiography was a reflection on his life looking for meaning, growth and faults His tone is humorous and secular – something that would never have happened in Puritan writing Literary Connection