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/* Impact on American Revolution? */
Christine Leigh Heyrman (1984) and Christopher Jedrey (1979) and others have been highly critical of this interpretation, arguing instead that The First Great Awakening was an essentially conservative movement a continuation of other, earlier religious traditions.
The Great Awakenings effect on early American settles was largely significant, directly effecting two thirds of the population.<ref>Paul Johnson, ''A History of the American People'', 1997</ref> The binding effect between the early American classes as a result of the Awakening also served as a proto-revolutionary event, preceding the political drive for Independence in the 1770's1770s. Famous British Historian Paul Johnson wrote in his book, '''The History of the American People'', that,
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"It was the marriage of the American elites touched by the Enlightenment with the spirit of the Great Awakening among the masses which enabled the popular enthusiasm thus aroused to be channeled into the political aims of the Revolution-itself soon identified as the coming eschatology event. Neither force could have succeeded without the other. The Revolution could not have taken place without this religious background. "
