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Welcome to the Revolution

Welcome to the Revolution. 1750-1826. By 1750, the political power of the Puritan church had almost disappeared. 1743, Ben Franklin proposed creating a society modeled on the Royal Society of London which would encourage the growth of the arts and sciences in America. How America Had Changed.

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Welcome to the Revolution

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  1. Welcome to the Revolution 1750-1826

  2. By 1750, the political power of the Puritan church had almost disappeared. • 1743, Ben Franklin proposed creating a society modeled on the Royal Society of London which would encourage the growth of the arts and sciences in America.

  3. How America Had Changed • Large cities had appeared because of constant immigration from Europe • The colonies had economic strength and security • Ideas of the Enlightenment were coming to America • There was a beginning American identity

  4. Ideas of the Enlightenment • Rationalism is an ordering principle • Logic and the human intellect are most important • The wrathful God of the Puritans is replaced with the God of natural philosophy

  5. What is The Enlightenment? • Another name for the 18th century’s “Age of Reason” whose ideas came to America from Europe. • The writers of this period recognized the influence of the ancient Greek and Roman thinkers and looked to the Classics in order to clarify and develop their ideas.

  6. Contrasts

  7. Reason • The 17th century: reason represented tradition, authority, and stability • The 18th century: reason is a tool, a means to authority

  8. Truth • 17th century: abstract examination of the ideas related to existence • 18th century: truth is examined from a practical and social point of view

  9. 17th century: preoccupation with spiritual and life after death 18th century: preoccupation with what is useful and with the physical world Life on Earth

  10. Literature

  11. Philosophy • Writers like Voltaire made literature of the natural sciences so what we would call science today (astronomy, physics, politics, education) was called philosophy in the 18th century

  12. The thinkers of this period had an optimism and faith in human reason. They believed man could be liberated from tyranny and superstition by means of science and reason.

  13. Classicism • Characteristics: • Order • Harmony • Balance

  14. Neoclassicism • Refers to those things inspired by the works of antiquity and is sometimes the way the art and literature of the 18th century is described.

  15. Ben Franklin • “The Secular Puritan” • Plain style of writing • Interest in science, self-improvement, hard work • Lack of spirituality • Material wealth for himself not God’s glory.

  16. Autobiography: written for his son William • Part I: composed about 1771 in Twyford, England before Franklin’s association with the revolution. (86 pages) • Part II: 13 years later when Franklin was living in France (14 pages)

  17. Autobiography • Part III: Written in 1788 in Philadelphia ( 117 pages) • Part IV: 2 weeks before his death, Franklin wrote a few more pages (7 ½) bringing the story of his life up to his 50th year. • Franklin died in 1790 at the age of 84.

  18. Poor Richard’s Almanac • Written by Franklin under the name of Richard Saunders • A collection of aphorisms (a short memorable saying which tells some truth about life) • Franklin used the Book of Proverbs and the familiar sayings of the country people as a source for his almanac.

  19. Thomas Jefferson • Sometimes called a “linguistic nationalist.” • He believed that a new nation with a new way of governing should have a language which was revitalized; that language and politics were closely related.

  20. Some words coined by Jefferson: • Dollar • Cent

  21. Michel-Guillaume de Crevecoeur A French immigrant wrote a collection of essays in the form of letters to an imaginary friend in France. These “literary letters” tell about the transformation of the European man into an American

  22. Letters From An American Farmer Is a classic statement of the meaning of America to the immigrants who found their ways to its shores. The form of the literary letter allows the writer to use the persuasive tone of a personal communication along with the formal presentation of evidence and example to prove his argument.

  23. What then is the American, this new man? He is either an European, or the descendant of an European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country. I could point out to you a family whose grandfather was an Englishman, whose wife was Dutch, whose son married a French woman, and whose present four sons have now four wives of different nations. He is an American, who leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds

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