<P> The idea of a "great awakening" has been contested by Butler (1982) as vague and exaggerated, but it is clear that the period was a time of increased religious activity, particularly in New England . The First Great Awakening led to changes in Americans' understanding of God, themselves, the world around them, and religion . In the Middle and Southern colonies, especially in the "back country" regions, the Awakening was influential among Presbyterians . In the southern Tidewater and Low Country, northern Baptist and Methodist preachers converted both white and black people . Some were enslaved at their time of conversion while others were free . Caucasians began to welcome dark - skinned individuals into their churches, taking their religious experiences seriously, while also admitting them into active roles in congregations as exhorters, deacons, and even preachers, although the last was a rarity . </P> <P> The message of spiritual equality appealed to many slaves, and, as African religious traditions continued to decline in North America, black people accepted Christianity in large numbers for the first time . Evangelist leaders in the southern colonies had to deal with the issue of slavery much more frequently than those in the North . Still, many leaders of the revivals proclaimed that slaveholders should educate their slaves so that they could become literate and be able to read and study the Bible . Many Africans were finally provided with some sort of education . Africans hoped that their newly acquired spiritual equality would translate into earthly equalities . As black people started to make up substantial proportions of congregations, they were given a chance to momentarily forget about their bondage and enjoy a slight sense of freedom . Before the American Revolution, the first black Baptist churches were founded in the South in Virginia, South Carolina, and Georgia; two black Baptist churches were founded in Petersburg, Virginia . </P> <P> The revival began with Jonathan Edwards in Northampton, Massachusetts . Edwards came from Puritan, Calvinist roots, but emphasized the importance and power of immediate, personal religious experience . Religious experience had to be immediate, he taught . He distrusted hierarchy and catechisms . His sermons were "solemn, with a distinct and careful enunciation, and a slow cadence ." His sermons were powerful and attracted a large following . Anglican preacher George Whitefield visited from England; he continued the movement, traveling throughout the colonies and preaching in a more dramatic and emotional style, accepting everyone into his audiences . Both Edwards and Whitefield were slave owners and believed that blacks would acquire absolute equality with whites in the Millennial church . </P> <P> Winiarski (2005) examines Edwards's preaching in 1741, especially his famous sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God ." At this point, Edwards countenanced the "noise" of the Great Awakening, but his approach to revivalism became more moderate and critical in the years immediately following . </P>

Was a leading preacher during the great awakening