Contributions to Democracy: Immigration and The Great Awakening

During the 1700s, immigration diversified the ethnic makeup of the original colonies, which was the driving force of The Great Awakening, which revitalized the interest in American religion; coupled together, democracy in the colonies was a result of both aforementioned factors, yet immigration bonded colonists more than The Great Awakening .Immigration, though predominantly English, encouraged mingling and interracial relations, which then built a new multicultural identity that was ethnically diverse. This created a land of equality and opportunity, aside from slavery, where no single class dominated the social structure. Thus, roots of democracy were established with the unified people of the colonies, who could relate to one another through motives of leaving Europe and their economic and social standpoints. On the other hand, The Great Awakening, revitalized religion for followers, who, at the time, dreaded mass due to droning ministers. After the boost in religious zealousness, broke down sectional boundaries and denominational separations, further uniting the colonists as immigration had done. However, both immigration and The Great Awakening had minor fallbacks. As ethnic diversity increased, tension and disputes between different nationalities were created. During the Great Awakening, schisms were set off within denominations and increased competition between churches. Although such flaws between the factors existed, so did unification between the colonists. This then resulted in the potential to cooperate and create political systems that would eventually find comfort in power vested by the people.