REBELS Day 1 The American Enlightenment Philosophy, Religion and Economics

1. REBELSDay 1The American EnlightenmentPhilosophy, Religion and Economics American History 1 Mr. Hensley SRMHS

2. The Enlightenment • All problems can be solved by human reason and the Scientific Method • Religion is not needed • Conflict between religion and science: Copernicus and Galileo • We can use natural laws to understand, predict and control the universe

3. Descartes and Rationalism • Descartes believes that there are universal truths that we can understand through logic and reason • Math is an example (Descartes unified algebra and geometry) • “I think therefore I am” • Method is top-down

4. Bacon and Empiricism • Francis Bacon is an English nobleman • Believes that knowledge can only be verified through experience • We must firm hypotheses and then collect data to test them – this becomes the scientific method • Method is bottom-up

5. Enlightened Beliefs • English philosophers like Hobbes believe people are basically evil and we need government to protect the weak from the strong • French philosophers like Rousseau believe people are basically good and government is the way the strong exploit the weak and maintain power

6. Enlightened Government • “Divine Right of Kings” says God gives kings and queens the power to rule • “Consent of the governed” says the power to rule is given to elected leaders by the people (John Locke) • Voting instead of birth determines who is in charge and has power

7. Literacy in the Colonies • Colonies have a strong culture of literacy • Newspapers are popular and easily available • Broadsides are posters that advertise or communicate ideas • Pamphlets are cheap paperbound booklets • Printing press helps spread ideas

8. What They Read • Most popular was a book of biographies by Plutarch called “Lives” • Emphasis on Roman history (Caesar) • Story of Cato was popular and influential • Story of Cincinnatus • Every house in America had a “Lives”

9. Benjamin Franklin “We are more thoroughly an enlightened people, with respect to our political interests, than perhaps any other under heaven. Every man among us reads, and is so easy in his circumstances as to have leisure for conversations of improvement and for acquiring information.”

10. Franklin on Self-Improvement • He identified 13 virtues that were critical • Ex: temperance – eat and drink in moderation • He then kept track of how well he did in keeping that goal –and constantly revised his actions aiming at improvement

12. The Great Awakening • American ministers were often “laid back” and relaxed in their sermons • Enlightenment reduces church attendance • Beginning in the 1700’s, charismatic preachers started a revival called “The Great Awakening” • Focus on what is in your heart, not your actions

13. Jonathan Edwards “The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire” from the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”

14. “Angry God” Word Cloud

15. Northern Economy • Cold climate prohibits growing of cash crops • Small farms and small towns are the norm – slavery not normal • Egalitarian with a large middle class • People buy locally • New Englanders have a negative opinion of Great Britain

16. Southern Economy • Cash crops like tobacco, cotton and indigo • Large plantations with one wealthy owner and hundreds of slaves and servants • Estates near ports – the wealthy buy from England, not locally • Aristocratic and pro-British

17. Gold Standard • All money contains equivalent weight of gold or silver • If money is paper, it is backed up by gold - you can convert it on demand • More gold causes inflation of prices • What if the amount of money in the world doubles overnight?

18. Mercantilism • Idea that gold was the best measure of a nation’s power - More gold = more power • You get gold by having a positive trade balance • You need to sell (export) more than you buy (import) • Colonies supply raw materials to home country

19. Navigation Acts • Ports are the only place taxes can be reliably collected (customs) • England will regulate and tax American trade • Cash crops can only be sold back to England • Finished goods had to come from England or through an English port • Smuggling increases

20. Review: The American Enlightenment BIG QUESTIONS: How would you describe the Enlightenment? How did the economic life of the Northern colonies differ from that of the Southern ones? What is ‘mercantilism’ and how did the British try to regulate trade? The Enlightenment emphasized human reason over religion and emphasized consent of the governed over the Divine Right of Kings. The Great Awakening was a religious revival that was a response to the Enlightenment. Both influenced intellectual life in the colonies. Northern colonies were egalitarian and based around small farms. Southern colonies were aristocratic and based around large plantations. Britain regulated colonial trade to make tax collection easier and to help strengthen its trade balance, as they believed in the principles of mercantilism.