Political Manifestations of the First and Second Great Awakenings

[mcull]

I'm taking a second year undergrad course in American History. It's essay time and as usual, I'm scrambling last minute trying to put something together. The topic I picked: "The FGA has been tied by many scholars to the political developments that gave rise to the American Revolution. What political manifestations did the SGA have? Why do you think scholars have not seen it as being as politically influential as the First?"

I'm doing well on my research into the SGA and I get that it had a greater influence on social reform than political reform (temperance, abolitionism, women's rights, etc). What I'm struggling with is finding good sources of information regarding the FGA and it's contribution to the American Revolution. Could anyone point me towards some good sources that could help clarify this for me?

Thanks!

[DonaldBaker]

Go check out The Sacred Cause of Liberty by Nathan O. Hatch and the First Great Awakening by Gaustad.  From there get Patricia Bonomi's Under The Cope Of Heaven (I think that's the title).  You'll be on your way.

[Phidippides]

Hi mcull!  Here are a few more titles you can check:

Kevin Phillips, The Cousins' Wars: Religion, Politics, and the Triumph of Anglo-America (New York: Basic Books, 1999)

Stephen M. Feldman, American Legal Thought from Premodernism to Postmodernism: An Intellectual Voyage (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000)

And here is the title Donnie mentioned:

Patricia U. Bonomi, Under the Cope of Heaven: Religion, Society, and Politics in Colonial America (New York: Oxford, 1988)

Good luck on your essay assignment.  Let us know how it goes!