The Age of Reason in America. The Enlightenment in America

1.

The Age of Reason
in America
The Enlightenment
in America

2.

The Age of Reason,
or the Enlightenment,
began in Europe with
the rationalist philosophers
th
and scientists of the 17
century.

3.

Rationalism is the belief
that people can arrive at
truth by reason
rather than relying
on the authority of the past,
on religious faith,
or intuition.

4.

The emergence of modern
science and the scientific
method had much
to do with this new
emphasis and reason and
free inquiry.

5.

• Discoveries made by physical
scientists and mathematicians
were changing the ways
people viewed the universe.

6.

Scientific investigation seemed
to show that the universe
was organized according
to certain unchanging laws,
and that people could discover
those laws through the use
of their reason.

7.

The Puritans saw God
as actively and mysteriously
involved in the workings of
the universe;
the rationalists saw God
differently.

8.

Sir Issac Newton (1642-1727), who
discovered the laws of gravity,
compared God to a clockmaker who,
having created the perfect mechanism
of this universe, then left His creation
to run on its own.

9.

According to this view, God would
not interfere with the operation of
this perfect mechanism, and it
made no sense to ask Him to do
so.

10.

• God’s special gift to humanity
was reason – the ability to think
in an ordered, logical manner.
As the French philosopher and
mathematician, Rene Descartes
affirmed in the opening sentence
of his work Discourse on
Method (1637): “I think,
therefore, I am.”

11.

• This gift of reason enabled
people to discover both
scientific and spiritual truth.
• In the rationalist view, all
human beings were born with
an innate ethical sense, and
all had the ability to regulate
and improve their own lives.

12.

• The theoretical background
for the Age of Reason, then
took shape in Europe in the
work of such figures as
Descartes, Newton, and
John Locke.

13.

• In America pragmatism was
characterized by an interest in the
public welfare and a willingness
to experiment, to try things out,
no matter what the authorities
might say.

14.

• The Age of Reason in America
combined common sense with
ideas from European thinkers.
The American reading public
displayed great interest in the
works of English scientists,
philosophers and writers, Newton,
Swift, Locke and others. The
writers of the French
Enlightenment, Voltaire, Russeau

15.

• From this mixture of ideas and
outlooks came much of the
triumph of 18th-century American
life: the inventive and curious
minds of Benjamin Franklin and
Thomas Jefferson, the drive to
improve living conditions, forms
of government, and individual
minds;

16.

and the thinking behind
the important statement
“We
hold these truths
to be self-evident”
(The Declaration of Independence,
Thomas Jefferson).

17.

• In the 1770s of the 18th century
the English colonies rebelled
against their parental colony. The
War for Independence lasted for
8 years (1776-1783) and ended in
the formation of a Federative
Bourgeois Democratic Republic
– the USA.

18.

This event of epoch-making
significance had been pre-determined
by the whole course of historical
development of the colonial America.

19.

The spiritual life in the colonies
during that period was influenced
by the bourgeois Enlightenment –
a movement supported by all
progressive forces of the country

20.

which opposed themselves
to the old colonial order
and religious obscurantism.

21.

The representatives
of the Enlightenment set themselves
the task of disseminating knowledge
among the people and advocating
revolutionary ideas.
They also participate in the War of
Independence.

22.

American Enlightenment
dealt a decisive blow upon
the puritan traditions and
brought to life secular
education and literature.

23.

At the initial period
the spread of ideas
of the Enlightenment
was largely due to
journalism.

24.

In the 18th century the most
interesting writing was
done by the Founding
Fathers, who led
the Revolution
of 1775-1783

25.

and who wrote
the Constitution of 1789.
They were philosophers and
also wrote political
pamphlets.

26.

Benjamin Franklin
(1706-1790)
The writings
of Benjamin Franklin
show the Enlightenment
spirit in America.

27.

Franklin was the first and
greatest of American
enlighteners.
He wrote a great deal.
Almost all of his important
works are short.

28.

Franklin was born
in Boston.
He attended school
only for one year and
educated himself
by reading extensively.

29.

At the age of 12 he became
an apprentice in the printing
house belonging
to his elder brother, James
Franklin,

30.

who published
the Boston Gazette.

31.

In 1723 Franklin moved
to Philadelphia after
a quarrel with his brother.

32.

He entered the printing shop
of Samuel Keimer.
Franklin was sent
to London.

33.

He stayed in London
working for
a London Printing
House.

34.

He wrote
A Dissertation
on Liberty and
Necessity,
Pleasure and Pain
(1725)

35.

He returned to Philadelphia,
established his own press
and
issued
The Pensylvania
Gazette in 1730s

36.

It was his own great
achievement

37.

He constantly worked
to develop his own
skills,
he created himself.

38.

He founded a society of
young artisans,
apprentices and traders,
called “Junta”,
the “Junta” club.

39.

The aim of this society was
self-education and
dissemination of knowledge.
The “Junta” later developed
into the American
Philosophical Society.

40.

His idea – to do good
to people
He became a leader
in philanthropic,
scientific,
and political affairs

41.

During 25 years, beginning
from 1732, Franklin
published his famous
Poor Richard’s Almanac

42.

which contained
information
on meteorology and
agriculture alongside with
stories, fables, proverbs.

43.

The Almanac greatly
contributed to the cause
of the Enlightenment
in America.

44.

Franklin never left off
his self-education.
He read extensively, studied
foreign languages and
engaged in research work
in physics.

45.

In 1751-1752 he made
his experiments
on atmospheric electricity
which brought him world
renown.
Franklin also participated in
various public activities.

46.

He organized
a library and hospital
in Philadelphia.

47.

He became a prominent public
man in the country,
and prior to the war
was given high posts
in the colonial government.

48.

In 1757 he went to
London as the
representative of the
American colonies.

49.

During his life
in England he made
acquaintance
of Adam Smith
and many other men
of note.

50.

Taking the advantage of
his official post Franklin
protested against
the measures directed
by England against
the American colonies.

51.

Back to America, in 1775,
Franklin took part
in the revolutionary
events.

52.

As a congressman he entered
the committee which was
to draw up
the DECLARATION OF
INDEPENDENCE

53.

As a writer Franklin is
remembered for his essays
on a variety of subjects and
his Autobiography (17711790).

54.

2 parts
Buildungsroman

55.

The First part (1771)
Is an entertaining
description of his own
life up to his early manhood

56.

The Second part (1784)
presents thoughts of a
mature man.
His style is serious. He
writes about his
contribution to America

57.

and to American history
He writes about himself
“For the Improvement of
Others”
This autobiography of
the Father of the Yankees is
of great value.

58.

Most of his works were
printed in his own
almanac and should be
regarded as a valuable
contribution to the cause of
the American
Enlightenment.

59.

In his works Franklin raises
his voice against
monarchy, slavery, racial
discrimination and
extermination
of the Indians.

60.

Some of his political essays
bear a marked
satirical character and
are directed against the British
government.

61.

He was involved
in democratic activities
and his broad-minded
genius found appreciation.

62.

Thomas Paine
1737 – 1809

63.

The time shortly before and
during
the
War
for
Independence
embraces
the activities
of Thomas Paine.

64.

He is one of the most
popular men of the Age of
Reason and
the most persuasive writer
of the American Revolution.

65.

He came from an
unlikely background. He
was born in England

66.

and he was
the poorly educated
son of
a corset maker.

67.

•He spent his 37 years of
life drifting through a
number of occupations:
corset maker, grocer,
tobacconist, school teacher,

68.

and a government
employee
who examined goods and
levied taxes on them.

69.

In 1774, Paine was
dismissed for attempting to
organize
the employees in demand
for higher wages which
was an unusual activity in
those days.

70.

Like many others he came
to America to make a new
start.

71.

With a letter of introduction
from Ben Franklin, whom
he met in London,
Paine went to Philadelphia,
where he worked as
a journalist.

72.

In the disagreement between
England and the Colonies,
he instantly identified with
the cause of the underdog.

73.

In January of 1776,
he published the most
important pamphlet
in support of American
independence: Common
Sense.

74.

In this 47-page pamphlet,
Paine denounced King
George III
as a “royal brute” and
asserted that a continent
should not remain tied
to an island.

75.

The pamphlet sold half a
million copies – in a
country whose total
population was roughly
two and a quarter million.

76.

In 1776 Paine joined
the Continental Army as it
retreated across New
Jersey to Philadelphia.

77.

During the journey
he began writing
a series of 16 pamphlets
called
The American Crisis.

78.

In these, he commented
on the course of the war
and urged his
countrymen not to give
up the fight.

79.

The first of these pamphlets
was read to Washington’s
troops in December 1776, a
few days before the recrossed
the Delaware River to attack
Trenton.

80.

After the Revolution Paine
lived peacefully in New York
and New Jersey until 1787
when he returned to Europe.
There he became involved
once more in radical
revolutionary politics.

81.

Revolutionary times were over in
America but they were beginning
in Europe. On July 14, 1789, the
French Revolution began in Paris
with the storming of the Bastille
by angry men led by Paine, who
considered himself a citizen of
the world, soon found a platform
for his ideas.

82.

In France he composed
The Rights of Man, a reply
to the English statesman
Edmund Burke’s
condemnation of the
French Revolution.

83.

The Rights of Man was an
impassioned defense of
republican government and a
call to the English people
to overthrow their king.

84.

Although he was outside
the country, Paine was tried
for treason and outlawed
from England. He was safe
in France from English law.

85.

He was briefly celebrated
as a hero
of the French Revolution.

86.

Soon he was imprisoned for
being a citizen of an enemy
nation (England).
James Monroe, the
American minister to
France at that time,

87.

secured Paine’s release
in 1794 by insisting
that Paine was
an American citizen

88.

The first part of the last
great work,
The Age of Reason,
appeared in 1794.
The second part was
published two years later.

89.

The Age of Reason was
Paine’s statement
of belief and
an explanation of the
principles of deism.

90.

The book was controversial
in America where it was
not fully understood and
was thought to be atheistic.

91.

When the author of the book
finally returned to America
in 1802 he found himself
an outcast.

92.

Thomas Jefferson

93.

94.

In office
March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1809
Preceded by
John Adams
Succeeded by
James Madison

95.

Thomas Jefferson was the third
President of the United States
(1801–1809) and the principal
author of the Declaration of
Independence (1776).

96.

The chief author of the
Declaration of
Independence – was an
important writer.

97.

He was an influential Founding Father. Jefferson
envisioned America as a great "Empire of
Liberty" that would promote republicanism.
Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the
United States (1801–1809) and the principal
author of the Declaration of Independence
(1776). The chief author of the Declaration of
Independence – was an important writer.

98.

He was an influential
Founding Father. Jefferson
envisioned America as a great
"Empire of Liberty"
that would promote
republicanism.

99.

Thomas Jefferson was born
on April 13, 1743 in a
family closely related to
some of the most prominent
individuals in Virginia.
He was the third of ten
children.

100.

• Jefferson's father was Peter Jefferson, a
planter and surveyor in Albemarle
County.

101.

• His mother was the daughter of a ship's
captain and sometime planter and
granddaughter of wealthy English and
Scottish gentry. Peter Jefferson was then
appointed to the Colonelcy of the
county, an important position at the
time.

102.

• In 1752, Jefferson began attending a
local school run by a local Scottish
Presbyterian minister. At the age of
nine, Jefferson began studying
Latin, Greek, and French; he learned
to ride horses, and began to
appreciate the study of nature.

103.

At 16 Jefferson entered the
College of William and Mary in
Williamsburg, and for two years
he
studied
mathematics,
metaphysics, and philosophy,
including John Locke, Francis
Bacon, and Isaac Newton.

104.

He also improved his French,
Greek, and violin.
A diligent student,
Jefferson displayed an avid
curiosity
in all fields.

105.

At 16 Jefferson entered the College of William and
Mary in Williamsburg, and for two years he studied
mathematics, metaphysics, and philosophy under
Professor William Small, who introduced the
enthusiastic Jefferson to the writings of the British
Empiricists, including John Locke, Francis Bacon,
and Isaac Newton. He also improved his French,
Greek, and violin. A diligent student, Jefferson
displayed an avid curiosity in all fields.

106.

• After graduating in 1762 with highest honors,
he read law with William & Mary law
professor George Wythe and was admitted to
the Virginia bar in 1767.

107.

Jefferson served as a delegate to the
Second
Continental
Congress
beginning in June 1775.
When
Congress
began
considering
a
RESOLUTION
INDEPENDENCE
in June 1776,
OF

108.

Jefferson was appointed to
a five-man committee to prepare
a declaration to accompany
the resolution.

109.

The committee selected Jefferson to write the first
draft because of his reputation as a writer. The
assignment was considered routine; no one at the
time thought that it was a major responsibility.
Jefferson completed a draft in consultation with
other committee members, drawing on his own
proposed draft of the Virginia Constitution, George
Mason's draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights,
and other sources.

110.

• Jefferson showed his draft to the committee,
which made some final revisions, and then
presented it to Congress on June 28, 1776.
After voting in favor of the resolution of
independence on July 2, Congress turned its
attention to the declaration. Over several days
of debate, Congress made a few changes in
wording and deleted nearly a fourth of the
text, most notably a passage critical of the
slave trade, changes that Jefferson resented.

111.

112.

• On July 4, 1776, the wording of
the Declaration of Independence
was approved. The Declaration
would
eventually
become
Jefferson's major claim to fame,
and his eloquent preamble became
an enduring statement of human
rights.

113.

In John Trumbull's painting Declaration of
Independence, the five-man drafting committee is
presenting its work to the Continental Congress.
Jefferson is the tall figure in the center laying the
Declaration on the desk.

114.

• Jefferson’s most important
document in the political history
of the US is also a fine work of
literature. It is a clear and
logical statement of why
America wanted its
independence, at the same time it
is a significant literary heritage.

115.

• He was the author of
the Virginia Statute for
Religios Freedom (1779,
1786).

116.

Jefferson's revolutionary view
on individual religious
freedom and protection from
government authority have
generated much interest with
modern scholars.

117.

118.

• Jefferson served as governor of
Virginia from 1779–1781. He
continued to advocate
educational reforms
at the College of William and
Mary. He introduced the
nation's first student-policed
honor-code.

119.

• The Virginia state legislature appointed
Jefferson to the Congress of the
Confederation on 6 June 1783, his term
beginning on 1 November. He was a
member of the committee formed to set
foreign exchange rates, and in that
capacity he recommended that the
American currency be based on the
decimal system. He left Congress when
he was elected a minister plenipotentiary

120.

• Jefferson served as minister to France
from 1785 to 1789. Beginning in early
September 1785, Jefferson collaborated
by mail with John Adams in London to
outline an anti-piracy treaty with
Morocco. Their work culminated in a
treaty that was ratified by Congress on
18 July 1787 and is still in force today,
making it the longest unbroken treaty
relationship in U.S. history.

121.

• Secretary of State (1790–1793)
• Election of 1796 and Vice Presidency
• As
the
Democratic-Republican
candidate in 1796 he lost to John
Adams, but had enough electoral votes
to become Vice President (1797–1801).
He wrote a manual of parliamentary
procedure, but otherwise avoided the
Senate.

122.

The Declaration of Independence
•- Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom
•- Memorandums taken on a journey from Paris
into the southern parts of France and Northern
Italy, in the year 1787
•- A Summary View of the Rights of British
America (1774)
•- Autobiography (1821)
•- Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of
Taking Up Arms (1775)
•- Notes on the State of Virginia (1781)
•- Jefferson Bible, or The Life and Morals of

123.

• was an American aristocrat
who owned a plantation near
New York City. He created
Letters from an American
Farmer (1782) in which he
revealed an idea of
opportunities for peace,
wealth and pride in America.

124.

He enthusiastucally spoke about
the colonies and praised them for
their tolerance, prosperity and free
spirit. In these 12 letters he
depicted America as an agrarian
paradise. This idea would inspire
many writers up to the present.

125.

He was the first to write about
“the melting pot” image
of America and the new
American character.