Today, things such as a literal interpretation of the Bible, young Earth creationism, skepticism over science, and other things like that are largely associated with Christian denominations that originated in America (even if such denominations have gained footholds worldwide). By contrast, denominations such as Catholicism, Lutheranism, Anglicanism, Methodism, Orthodoxy, etc. that either developed or became more influential in Europe largely did not follow the same path. For example, while there may be pockets of Biblical creationism, denial of climate change, etc. among Catholics or other groups, they tend to be a small if vocal minority. What were the historical and cultural reasons as to why America-originating denominations tend to be more Biblical literalist and science-skeptic compared to their counterparts in Europe?
I have read somewhere before that suggested that one possible factor was that, during the Great Awakenings, the pastors and other religious leaders tended to be less educated and thus less familiar with things like critical analysis of the Bible, things that may have been more familiar to more educated clergy and other religious figures in Europe. Is this theory accurate or could it have just been conjecture?
You're right to look to the Great Awakening, but it's not an education vs ignorance issue - the real divide is in authority. Let's wind the clock back to the 1730s & 1790s; the 1st & 2nd Great Awakenings. What's going on? Well, the same thing that's happening in Anglo-American politics & society at large! The unique combination of the material circumstances of the American frontier (including Amerindian influences) combined with the intellectual milleu emanating from Europe at the time led to a culture of participation & republicanism. I can talk more about the gov't side, but we'll stick more to religion b/c I'd hope your civics class would've hit the basics of late-colonial/early-republican local governance.
Let's talk established or state churches. By 1800, most nations in W. Europe had one; either national churches like the Church of England & north Germanic Lutheran churches or a special relationship with the Roman Catholic Church (France, Spain, etc). Many of the 13 original colonies had one too; Anglicanism/Episcopalianism in the SE to Congregationalism in Massachusetts. The frontier was different; either as a British territory or new American states. The preachers there spoke of a more, for lack of a better term, democratic or individualistic Christianity - where anyone who could read the Bible should be able to understand it, without needing some obscure deep-dive into Judeo-Roman history or ancient literary practices. In a way, it makes sense; these are people used to relying on their local communities over far-off authorities & due to the overwhelmingly Protestant culture, a larger % of early Americans are estimated to have been literate compared to their European contemporaries. We should also note the demographics; the 2nd Great Awakening in particular saw success with black & rural Americans. Their positionality will be important as well, in terms of why "science" is seen as the outside imposition rather than revelatory truth.
Now let's switch to (Western) Christianity, at large, during the 18th & e19th century. This was a time before Darwin had even sailed on the HMS Beagle & concepts like "deep time" were only just being theorized. Most Christians, including many natural philosophers (roughly eqv. to scientists) would still have been Biblical literalists themselves; why would they not be? The real change comes during the Industrial Era, with these scientific discoveries which had to be reinterpreted to fit within a Biblical framework. Authoritarian churches could, when they chose to (often generational leadership turnover), more easily instruct their flocks of this new doctrine. These American, highly localized & self-governing churches... really had no mechanisms for this. Sure - many, say, Baptist or AME ministers had no issues integrating secular concepts into their faith traditions (or stayed silent on the issue). But if they wanted to pretty the matter onto an unresponsive congregation, there was basically no mechanism to enforce that. Often the parishioners controlled the purse-strings (not the state or higher bishops) & lack of doctrines like Apostolic Succession basically allowed them to just... create a new church with the traditional views.
There's a lot more to go into here; like why black- & rural/Southern-Americans are more likely to distrust science and its authoritative assertions compared to "mainstream Protestants" & Catholics.
The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America by Thomas Kidd
Still arguably the textbook on the 1st Great Awakening
The Democratization of American Christianity by Nathan O. Hatch
Does what it says on the tin...
Calling Down Fire by Perciaccante & The Burned-Over District by Cross
Focus on NYS's "burned-over district" & the 2nd Great Awakening
The Frontier in American History by Frederick Jackson Turner
Can't talk about the frontier & its effects without mentioning Turner; others have continued & expanded the conversation but why not go straight to the source & work your way out from there?
The Aesthetic Body: Passion, Sensibility, & Corporeality in 16th Century France by Erec R. Koch
Yes, a bit early & obviously French not Anglo-American... but it gives a good overview of the conflicts between emergent science & religion.
Muir's Reflections in Bullough's Pond & Newell's From Dependency to Independence
Related if you want to take a sociomaterialistic view of religion & expanding frontier, more for NE than NY or the SE/Midwest.