Final answer:
The Great Awakening promoted religious enthusiasm and created new denominations, leading to a democratization of faith and questioning of traditional authority. The Enlightenment fostered a culture of intellectualism and human rights, influencing American revolutionary ideals and governance. Both movements cultivated a distrust of institutional authority and encouraged educational and societal advancements.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Great Awakening and the Enlightenment were two pivotal movements that left an indelible mark on colonial society in North America. These movements, although espousing different core values — spiritual revivalism and intellectual rationalism, respectively — both contributed to undermining traditional authority and promoting new ways of thinking among the colonists. The Great Awakening brought about a wave of religious fervor, challenging the existing denominational power structures and emphasizing a personal, emotional connection to faith. It led to the rise of new denominations such as the Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians, thus democratizing religious practice and diminishing the influence of older Protestant groups.
The Enlightenment, through its focus on reason, scientific observation, and the ideas of philosophers such as John Locke, encouraged individuals to question traditional authority and advocated for personal and societal improvement. This intellectual movement inspired some of the core ideas that would later be integral in the shaping of American government and philosophy, including the notion of unalienable rights and government by consent.
Together, both movements engendered a climate of thought that was inherently skeptical of imposed authority, advocating for education and rational discourse. The intermingling of these ideas created an atmosphere ripe for political change, as seen in the Colonial Wars, where struggles were not just mere extensions of European conflicts but also reflected colonial concerns over autonomy and governance.