The Great Awakening and Southern Backcountry Revolutionaries

This work documents the impact that the Great Awakening had on the inhabitants of colonial America's Southern Backcountry. Special emphasis is placed on how this religious revival furrowed the ground on which the seeds of the American Revolution would sprout. The investigation shows how the Great Awakening can be traced to the Europe's Age of Enlightenment. This effort also demonstrates how and why this revival spread so rapidly throughout the colonies. Special focus is placed on how the Great Awakening impacted the mindset of colonists of the Southern Backcountry. Most significantly, this research demonstrates how this 18^thcentury revival not only cultivated a sense of American national identity, but how it also fostered a colonial mindset against established authority which, in turn, facilitated the success of the American Revolution. Additionally, this investigation will document (from a cross-cultural perspective) how religious revivals have fueled other revolutionary movements around the world. Such analysis will include the Celtic Druid Revolt, the Maji-Maji Rebellion of East Africa along with the Mad Man's War in Southeast Asia. Lastly, the ethical ramifications of minimizing (or denying) the role that religion played in political and social transformations around the world will be addressed. This final point is of paramount importance given current trend in academia to minimize the role that religion played in spurring revolutions while emphasizing material (i.e. economic) causal factors. This attempt at divorcing religion from history is misguided and unethical because it is not only misleading but it also fails to fully acknowledge the beliefs and values that motivated individuals to take certain actions in the first place.

Dr. Richard J. Chacon is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Winthrop University. He has conducted ethnographic investigations throughout Amazonia. He has documented the subsistence patterns and belief systems of the Yanomamo of Venezuela, the Yora of Peru and the Achuar (Shiwiar) of Ecuador. He has also done research on Andean belief systems and ritual violence among Otavalo and Cotacachi Indians of Highland Ecuador. His specializations are in optimal foraging theory, Amerindian subsistence strategies, warfare, ritual violence, the development of complex societies, ethnohistory and the effects of globalization in addition to analyzing the effects of religion and missionization on society. His publications include: North American Indigenous Warfare and Ritual Violence (Eds., Richard Chacon and Ruben Mendoza) Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2007. Latin American Indigenous Warfare and Ritual Violence (Eds., Richard Chacon and Ruben Mendoza) Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2007. The Taking and Displaying of Human Body Parts as Trophies by Amerindians (Eds., Richard Chacon and David Dye). New York: Springer, 2007. The Ethics of Anthropology and Amerindian Research: Reporting on Environmental Degradation and Warfare (Eds., Richard Chacon and Ruben G. Mendoza. New York: Springer, 2012. Currently, Chacon serves as Series Editor for Springer’s Anthropology and Ethics.

Michael C. Scoggins is the Historian for the Culture & Heritage Museums (CHM) and is Research Director of the Southern Revolutionary War Institute in York, South Carolina. Scoggins has an Associate Degree in Science from the University of South Carolina-Union, an Associate Degree in Engineering Technology from York Technical College, a Bachelor of Arts in History from Winthrop University, and is currently pursuing his master’s degree in history. He was employed as an electronics engineer for twenty years before changing careers in 1999 to pursue his life-long interest in military history and Southern history. He is the author of Historic York County: An Illustrated History (Historic Publishing Network, 2009), The Day It Rained Militia: Huck’s Defeat and the Revolution in the South Carolina Backcountry, May-July 1780 (History Press, 2005) and Relentless Fury: The Revolutionary War in the Southern Piedmont (CHM, 2006). Scoggins also edited the republication of Benson Lossing’s 1889 classic, Reflections of Rebellion: Hours with the Living Men and Women of the Revolution (History Press, 2005), and co-authored (with Dr. Bobby G. Moss) African-American Patriots in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution (Scotia-Hibernia Press, 2004) and African-American Loyalists in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution (Scotia-Hibernia Press, 2005). He has contributed articles to numerous historical publications and journals, including Patriots of the American Revolution; War, Literature and the Arts; Military Collector and Historian; The South Carolina Encyclopedia; Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution; Carologue; and American Revolution Magazine. Currently, he writes a monthly history column for YC Magazine, edits the York County Genealogical and Historical Society Quarterly, and is a frequent lecturer on topics of local and regional history. Scoggins is a member of the Company of Military Historians, the Brigade of the American Revolution, the Scotch-Irish Society of the USA, the Sons of Confederate Veterans, the York County Genealogical and Historical Society, the Amateur Radio Relay League, and is President of the Confederation of South Carolina Local Historical Societies.