George Whitefield (1714–1770) was the most famous evangelist of the eighteenth century. Whitefield was ordained an Anglican priest in England in 1739, and he began his preaching career in the Americas in 1740. His emphasis on personal spirituality earned him the ire of the established church, and he took to preaching in public spaces rather than in the pulpit. Whitefield ultimately made seven tours through the colonies, emphasizing the need for spiritual rebirth in his sermons and spreading the ideas of eighteenth-century Protestant...

While the dominant narrative of the American Revolution focuses on its political causes, the factor of religion cannot be ignored. Many settlers came to the North American colonies seeking the freedom to practice their religions. For the Puritans, who established a vision for their colony, calling it a “City upon a Hill,” religion was intertwined with America’s destiny to become a beacon for the world. One cannot fully understand the minds of the Revolutionary generation without considering the place of...