 In his Road to Independence documentary, Providence Forum Executive Director Jerry Newcomb focuses on the Great Awakening's influence on America, gaining its independence from England. Among with Edwards, he credits George Whitefield, a famous Calvinist, for helping it to spread. Most Americans today have never heard of George Whitefield, explains Newcomb. He was the first man we know of that went into all 13 of the colonies. He took the Great Awakening, which began under the humble ministry of Jonathan Edwards, and helped spread it up and down the Atlantic coast, the need for personal salvation.