<P> Phillis Wheatley was the first published black female poet, and she was converted to Christianity as a child after she was brought to America . Her beliefs were overt in her works; she describes the journey of being taken from a Pagan land to be exposed to Christianity in the colonies in a poem entitled "On Being Brought from Africa to America ." Wheatley became so influenced by the revivals and especially George Whitefield that she dedicated a poem to him after his death in which she referred to him as an "Impartial Saviour ." Sarah Osborn adds another layer to the role of women during the Awakening . She was a Rhode Island schoolteacher, and her writings offer a fascinating glimpse into the spiritual and cultural upheaval of the time period, including a 1743 memoir, various diaries and letters, and her anonymously published The Nature, Certainty and Evidence of True Christianity (1753). </P> <P> The emotionality of the revivals appealed to many Africans and African leaders started to emerge from the revivals soon after they converted in substantial numbers . These figures paved the way for the establishment of the first black congregations and churches in the American colonies . </P> <P> The newly incorporated town of Uxbridge, Massachusetts saw the first new Congregational church congregation and worship building in Massachusetts in the Great Awakening period of 1730--60 . It was headed by Pastor Rev. Nathan Webb, a native of Braintree, who remained in the ministry in Uxbridge for the next 41 years . His student Samuel Spring served as a chaplain in the American Revolutionary War, and started the Andover Seminary and the Massachusetts Missionary Society . </P> <P> The Calvinist denominations were especially affected . For example, Congregational churches in New England experienced 98 schisms, which in Connecticut also had impact on which group would be considered "official" for tax purposes . These splits were between the New Lights (those who were influenced by the Great Awakening) and the Old Lights (those who were more traditional). It is estimated in New England that in the churches there were about 1 / 3 each of New Lights, Old Lights, and those who saw both sides as valid . </P>

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