First Great Awakening in Colonial American Newspapers - by Lisa Smith (Paperback)

About the Book

The First Great Awakening in Colonial American Newspapers is a comprehensive, in-depth study of colonial American newspaper reporting on the First Great Awakening during the years 1739-1748. Lisa Smith uncovers both characteristics of the movement as presented by the papers as...

Book Synopsis

Gathering the attention and excitement of American colonists from Boston to Charleston, the religious revival of the 1740s traditionally known as the First Great Awakening provided colonial newspaper printers with their first story of transcolonial importance. At the time of the Awakening, American newspapers had become a vital part of the colonial information network as each major city offered at least one weekly paper. Papers printed weekly reports on revivalist preaching, eye-witness accounts of revival meetings, shocking stories of improper ordinations and church separations, as well as numerous contributed letters praising or denouncing virtually every aspect of the Awakening. No other colonial event of the 1740s, including the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748) and the Jacobite Rebellion (1745), came close to receiving as much newspaper coverage, making the First Great Awakening America's first "Big Story."

In The First Great Awakening in Colonial American Newspapers: A Shifting Story, Lisa Smith offers the first scholarly work to examine in detail the printed newspaper record of the revival. This comprehensive, in-depth examination of colonial newspapers over a ten-year period uncovers information on shifts in the presentation of the revival over time, specific differences in regional reporting, and significant transformations in the newspaper personae of popular revivalists such as George Whitefield and Gilbert Tennent. Using original newspaper excerpts and graphs revealing reporting trends, this book presents an engaging, detailed picture of how colonial newspaper printers covered the experience of the First Great Awakening.

Review Quotes

"[T]his study reaches beyond its statistics, especially in its chapter-long assessment of the three flamboyant newsmakers, Whitfield, Tennent, and Davenport. Retelling a familiar story from a new avenue of approach, it points the Butler thesis in a fresh and truly useful direction by providing both a needed model and a distinctive interpretation of a subject that continues to engage readers despite reports of its demise or claims that it never existed at all." --American Periodicals

"The Great Awakening of the eighteenth century was both religiously inspired and media driven. No book makes this point more effectively than Lisa Smith's The First Great Awakening in Colonial American Newspapers. Her remarkable research makes this book a must-read for scholars and students of the Great Awakening." --Thomas S. Kidd, Baylor University

"While most previous studies have focused on one or two papers in major cities and often dealt only with one of George Whitefield's preaching tours, The First Great Awakening in Colonial American Newspapers includes a number of papers from several major cities as well as a number of different colonies. Lisa Smith also looks beyond Whitefield to try and present a broader description of the Great Awakening, the people involved, and its impact. The inclusion of a variety of newspapers enables the author to present an in-depth comparison of how the revival was covered throughout the colonies over time and how people's reactions changed. The result is a very nuanced study of the press coverage of the revival. Scholars have long thought the Great Awakening was an important event in the development of the colonial newspapers, but Lisa Smith provides the detailed information to clearly back up that generalization." --Carol Sue Humphrey, Oklahoma Baptist University

[T]his study reaches beyond its statistics, especially in its chapter-long assessment of the three flamboyant newsmakers, Whitfield, Tennent, and Davenport. Retelling a familiar story from a new avenue of approach, it points the Butler thesis in a fresh and truly useful direction by providing both a needed model and a distinctive interpretation of a subject that continues to engage readers despite reports of its demise or claims that it never existed at all.

The Great Awakening of the eighteenth century was both religiously inspired and media driven. No book makes this point more effectively than Lisa Smith's The First Great Awakening in Colonial American Newspapers. Her remarkable research makes this book a must-read for scholars and students of the Great Awakening.


While most previous studies have focused on one or two papers in major cities and often dealt only with one of George Whitefield's preaching tours, The First Great Awakening in Colonial American Newspapers includes a number of papers from several major cities as well as a number of different colonies. Lisa Smith also looks beyond Whitefield to try and present a broader description of the Great Awakening, the people involved, and its impact. The inclusion of a variety of newspapers enables the author to present an in-depth comparison of how the revival was covered throughout the colonies over time and how people's reactions changed. The result is a very nuanced study of the press coverage of the revival. Scholars have long thought the Great Awakening was an important event in the development of the colonial newspapers, but Lisa Smith provides the detailed information to clearly back up that generalization.

About the Author

Lisa Smith is instructor and researcher at Pepperdine University.