Revolutionary Thinking

In the times preceding the American Revolution there were several ways of thought that were being challenged. These trains of thought can be seen mostly by the religious community. A change in belief system, methodology and demography was occurring. Here we can look at three different ways in which the ideals shifted to form a very new sense of freedom and experimentation.

During the birth of the revivals in Massachusetts in the late 17th and early 18th Century a distinct ideal was being sold to people searching for spiritual revelation, it was the idea of ‘soul searching’. This idea not only fostered introspection by individuals but its deeper meanings dealt more with the way a person felt about things he had done in his life and his eternal damnation or salvation. (Taylor, 345) These feelings or attitudes opened up a door in some minds that led to visions and even declarations of extreme grandeur for the future.

These attitudes did not only spawn a new way of thinking but a new lifestyle for those considered to be with the new program, or ‘New Lights’ as they were penned. A statement made by Reverend Jonathan Edwards about his new congregation of people explains the difference; he stated “Our people do not so much need to have their heads stored, as to have their hearts touched.” (Taylor, 345) Here we can see that Reverend Edwards is clearly grouping himself apart from any of the traditional thinkers using language like ‘Our people’. The entire statement is an attack on the old way of thought. He is claiming that stuffing our heads with useless garble is not the way to true enlightenment, rather the feeling of salvation and the expression of these feelings. The difference between a very pragmatic or practical view and a theoretical or idealistic view of the World and religion is shown in statements like these. These new lights were very contrary to the Old Lights in not only thought but in practice.

One particular practice that was revived only by the spreading of this new way of ministering a parish was that of converting Natives to Christianity. Conversion was attempted several times throughout the encounters with Native Americans but they were mostly used as a control device or a method of manipulation. The New Lights method of conversion was the education of Indians so they could read the Bible, not for the purpose of following some strict guideline on how to teach what you read, but to read it and relate it to your way of life or culture. These new lights, or evangelicals, allowed Indians to make Christianity their own. They allowed senior members of the tribe to maintain their current roles in society and teach this new found religion to their youth. This was far more favorable to the Native