1. The French, The Enlightenment, and the Great Awakening
EQ: How can world events shape new ideas?

2. The French in North America
Founded colony of Quebec along St. Lawrence River (1608)
1st permanent French settlement in North America
Two main purposes:
Fur Trade
Missionary work
Catholics priests wanted to convert Native Americans to Catholicism
The French were Great Britain’s biggest rival in North America

3. World Events Affect the Colonies
The Enlightenment: 18th century intellectual movement that emphasized the use of reason & the scientific method to obtain knowledge
Ideas travelled from Europe to the colonies in books & pamphlets
Led American colonists to question British authority

4. The Great Awakening (1730s-1740s)
Religious revival where preachers tried to convince people to rededicate themselves to God
The Great Awakening occurred because Puritan church membership & attendance was declining & Puritan merchants valued wealth more than religion
Eventually brought people back to religion

5. Jonathan Edwards Key American revivalist during the Great Awakening
He believed that people had become too concerned with worldly things like wealth
Wrote “Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God”
Said church attendance was not enough
People must acknowledge their sinfulness & feel God’s love

6. Significance of the Great Awakening
1. LED TO NEW IDEAS GA Encouraged individual religious experience not reliance on church = led to decreased importance & power of church (separation of church and state) New churches formed, more people joined = led to greater religious toleration = no single religion dominant

7. Significance of Enlightenment & Great Awakening
1st major event that all colonies share = 2. unified the American colonies (WE are AMERICANS, THEY are BRITISH)

8. Significance of Enlightenment & Great Awakening
3. Eventually led colonists to question England’s authority over colonies