<P> The First Great Awakening led to changes in Americans' understanding of God, themselves, the world around them, and religion . 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 . </P> <P> Evangelical 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 . </P> <P> George Whitefield's sermons reiterated an egalitarian message, but only translated into a spiritual equality for Africans in the colonies who mostly remained enslaved . Whitefield was known to criticize slaveholders who treated their slaves cruelly and those who did not educate them, but he had no intention to abolish slavery . He lobbied to have slavery reinstated in Georgia and proceeded to become a slave holder himself . Whitefield shared a common belief held among evangelicals that, after conversion, slaves would be granted true equality in Heaven . Despite his stance on slavery, Whitefield became influential to many Africans . </P>

What influence did the enlightenment and the great awakening have on colonial america