Whitefield Became the First American Celebrity

You might be surprised to learn about this interesting fact about George Whitefield that he was America's first celebrity. It's likely that if this topic were presented to someone, the responses would center on politicians, singers, actors, and actresses. Because of his involvement in the church at that time, George Whitefield rose to prominence in America. According to reports, he was widely known to more than 80% of the American colonists. They had at least once heard of George Whitefield's preaching, which is an interesting detail about him. At the time, being acknowledged by so many Americans was a great honor. His name would be mentioned in the same breath as royalty.

Whitefield received his deacon's ordination in the Church of England on June 26, 1736. He had a reputation as a very accomplished speaker when he started preaching in the pulpits. Whitefield experimented with extemporaneous preaching, commonly referred to as preaching without notes, during these sermons. However, Whitefield did not become well-known until he paired impromptu preaching with a different novel method: field preaching. Although Whitefield didn't originate open-air preaching, he did combine it with speaking from memory to create a sensation. But this should not downplay his message; rather it was his skill as a preacher which drew crowds. And he did sketch them. In the end, Whitefield traveled to America on seven preaching missions. He was an itinerant preacher, which meant that he had no fixed place of worship and instead traveled. He did this in Scotland and England, but his greatest success came in the colonies.

The first well-known figure in the American colonies was Whitefield. He was able to accomplish this in part because of how far he went around the colonies and how many people saw him. Because nearly every colonist saw or knew him throughout his lifetime, he may be considered the first celebrity. And in doing so, he unwittingly assisted the colonists in taking the first baby step away from England. He served as the first uniting influence in America by traversing so many of the colonies. Everyone shared common knowledge of and affection for Whitefield. The American Revolution saw the colonists come together once more as they fought against England less than ten years after Whitefield's passing.