It played an important part in nurturing the democratic folk movement of the time, and stimulating the entrance into politics of representatives of the rural population.
The ministers had the sole right to administer the sacraments, and as a public official he was accountable to the state for the Christian indoctrination of his flock.
[5][6] Hauge came to feel that he had a divine call which made it mandatory for him to break this law and proclaim the word of God directly among his fellowmen.
According to Hauge's views, the state church failed to provide parishioners with a personal religious experience.
Within political activities, three Haugeans – John Hansen Sørbrøden, Christopher Borgersen Hoen and Ole Rasmussen Apeness – were in attendance at the National Assembly at Eidsvoll in 1814.
[13] Within popular culture, the character Solveig in Peer Gynt (1876) by Henrik Ibsen is presented as a member of a Haugean family, and this religious affiliation is clearly related to her purity and steadfast love for the play's protagonist.
Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson's work Synnøve Solbakken (1857) also presents the heroine as a Haugean with similar purity and commitment to her eventual betrothed, Thorbjørn.
Samson Trae, a Haugean leader, noted that "It gave us extreme joy to realize that the foundation of your faith accords with the true word of God.
Its leader, lay preacher Knud Spødervold, published his book Guds nådes husholdning ('The Dispensation of God's Grace') in 1848.