The difference in emphasis you noticed (grace, love, and acceptance vs. joy, freedom, and deliverance) has deep historical roots that go back much further than colonial history. As an exercise, even the apostles -- and the prophets before them -- can be read in terms of which side of this dichotomy they preferred in their rhetoric. If you read the bible every year and choose a list of themes/topics to focus on, this is an interesting one.

Another really interesting fact: this difference in style correlates much better with demographics than with doctrine/dogma/congregation. There was a dissertation or maybe book about this, but I can't seem to find it at the moment.