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Difficulty: HardColonial Society, Culture, and Politics

Source: Nathan Cole, a Connecticut farmer, describing his journey to hear a sermon, 1740

"Then on a sudden, in the morning about 8 or 9 of the clock there came a messenger and said Mr. Whitefield preached at Hartford and Wethersfield yesterday and is to preach at Middletown this morning... I dropped my tool that I had in my hand and run home to my wife telling her to make ready quickly... I run to my pasture for my horse... we went like whipped horses... and when we came within about half a mile of the road that comes from Hartford... it looked like a steady stream of horses and riders, a cloud of dust... with a slow and solemn motion... it made me think of the Judgment Day."

The religious movement described in the excerpt most directly contributed to which of the following social or political developments in the British North American colonies?

  1. A
    The passage of imperial regulations such as the Navigation Acts, which aimed to enforce mercantilism by restricting colonial trade to English vessels.
  2. The erosion of traditional ecclesiastical authority and the rise of democratic, anti-authoritarian sentiment across the colonies.Answer
  3. C
    The consolidation of political power in the hands of a wealthy planter gentry who controlled the colonial assemblies of the Southern colonies.
  4. D
    The transition from a labor force dominated by European indentured servants to one based on the hereditary chattel slavery of enslaved Africans.

Answer

The erosion of traditional ecclesiastical authority and the rise of democratic, anti-authoritarian sentiment across the colonies.
The correct answer is correct because the First Great Awakening promoted a highly personalized and emotional religious experience that challenged the monopoly of traditional, established ministers. By encouraging individuals to judge their spiritual leaders for themselves, the movement fostered a spirit of anti-authoritarianism and religious democracy that eventually influenced political views toward British imperial governance.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the historical context of the stimulus.
The excerpt is from Nathan Cole describing the massive public response to George Whitefield in 1740, which represents the First Great Awakening.
Understanding the specific historical event (the Great Awakening) allows for the evaluation of its long-term social and political consequences.
2
Analyze the social and political impacts of the First Great Awakening.
The movement split churches into 'Old Lights' and 'New Lights,' led colonists to question religious authorities, promoted religious pluralism, and served as a shared colonial experience.
Connecting the religious revival to broader political trends reveals how challenging ecclesiastical authority prepared colonists to later question imperial political authority.
3
Evaluate the choices to identify the correct effect and eliminate distractors.
The option concerning the erosion of ecclesiastical authority directly addresses the anti-authoritarian mindset fostered by the Awakening. Other options are incorrect because they describe unrelated mercantile laws, regional southern political developments, or labor shifts.
This confirms the correct option while ensuring that distractors are recognized as historically true statements that do not answer the specific prompt.

Key Concept

The First Great Awakening and its impact on colonial authority and identity.
Estimated Time:2m 0s
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Topics

Colonial Society, Culture, and Politics

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