The Age of Reason in America. The Enlightenment in America презентация

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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 were widely read in America.

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;

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

who published
the Boston Gazette.

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

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

He stayed in London working for
a London Printing House.

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

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

It was his own great achievement

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He organized
a library and hospital
in Philadelphia.

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

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

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

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

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

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

As a writer Franklin is remembered for his essays on a variety of subjects and his Autobiography (1771-1790).

2 parts
Buildungsroman

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

Thomas Paine
1737 – 1809

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thomas Jefferson

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

In John Trumbull's painting Declaration ofDeclaration of 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.

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.

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

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

Jefferson was State legislator

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.

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 on 7 May 1784.
Member of Congress

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.
Minister to France

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.
Presidency 1801–1809

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 Jesus of Nazareth
- Manual of Parliamentary Practice for the Use of the Senate of the United States (1801)

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.
Hector St. .John de Crevecoeur

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.

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