Sermons of Raw Emotion: The Great Awakening Reasons for The Great Awakening Sermons of Raw Emotion The Out Comes of The Awakening

The Great Awakening gave colonists a shared national religious experience

Reasons for The Great Awakening  People felt that religion was dry, dull and distant  Preachers felt that people needed to be concerned with inner emotions as opposed to outward religious behavior  People in New England can read and interrupt the Bible on their own

George Whitefield  Puritan Minster who used raw emotional sermons to reach all classes of colonists  Preached that “good works” and “godly lives” would bring you salvation  Forced to give sermons in open areas (revivals)

Jonathan Edwards a Puritan Minster terrified listeners with his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”

Outcomes of the Great Awakening  Birth of deep religious convictions in the colonies  New churches built to accommodate new members  Colleges founded found to train new ministers

Outcomes of the Great Awakening  Encouraged ideas of equality and right to challenge authority  Birth of charity and charitable organizations

The Trial of John Peter Zenger (August 4, 1735) ages/zenger_tryal_illustration.jpg

Background to Case  Zenger was a German printer who worked for the New York Weekly Journal  He wrote articles that criticized NY governor, William Cosby  Cosby had Zenger arrested for “seditious libel” ger/freespeech.htm

Arguments of Case  Prosecution argued that Zenger “wickedly and maliciously” printed articles against the governor and his ministers  Zenger legally couldn’t defend himself by trying to prove that he published the truth  Zenger’s lawyer, Andrew Hamilton, argued that the truth should determine if the articles were libelous or not /zenger.gif

Verdict of Case  The jury only took a “short time” to rule not guilty in favor of Zenger  Jury initiated the practice of jury nullification  The case opened the turn for the freedom of press rights found in Bill of Rights (1789) trial.jpg

Issues/Discussion Questions  Is it dangerous for a jury to use jury nullification?  What reaction did the verdict have with gov’t officials? Common people?  Is it fair for the gov’t to limit free speech in times of “national security”? nger.gif

Work Cited  cts/ftrials/zenger/zenger.html cts/ftrials/zenger/zenger.html cts/ftrials/zenger/zenger.html  Great source for selected primary sources, summary, images,  Dershowitz, Alan M. America on Trial. Warner Books: New York,  Discusses briefly details of case and the significance of Zenger case to modern America  ambridge/zenger.html ambridge/zenger.html ambridge/zenger.html  Complete court record of Alexander Hamilton’s defense of John Peter Zenger   Brief summary of Zenger case enger2.gif