Title: Enlightenment in the Colonies Krehbiel 2004
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2Enlightenment in the ColoniesKrehbiel - 2004
3Enlightenment in the Colonies
- Chapter I - The Age of Reason
- Chapter II - The Enlightenment America
- Chapter III - The Politics of the Enlightenment
4Chapter I - The Age of Reason
5The Age of Reason
- Britain
- Late Seventeenth to Mid-Eighteenth C.
- America
- Mid-Eighteenth C. to 1789. Â
6Enlightenment was an extension of the
Renaissance.
- Advances in science during the Enlightenment
- Copernicus
- Solar system
- Galileo
- Telescope (1609) Â
- Keplar Â
- Mathematics Â
- Descartes Â
- Analytic geometry scientific method
- Newton Â
- Gravity
7Religious shift - anti-mystic / pro-rational
- Out Â
- Biblical authority Â
- Incarnation Â
- Trinity Â
- Christ's deity Â
- Depravity of man Â
- Original sin Â
- Divine grace Â
- In Â
- Perfectibility of man Â
- Man's goodness Â
- Environmental conditioning Â
- Natural law as proof (Watch and Watchmaker) Â Â
8Deism
- Not a movement or particular practice, but a way
of thinking about religion. - There is a Supreme power in the universe. Â
- It must be worshiped. Â
- The best form of worship is the good ordering of
the faculties of man. Â - All vice and evil requires repentance. Â
- There are rewards and punishments after this
life.
9Benjamin Franklin
- "The most acceptable service to God is doing good
to man." Â
10Chapter II - The Enlightenment America
11American Revolution
- Nearly all the leaders of the American Revolution
were children of The Enlightenment. Â
12Calvinistic society had turned away from
mysticism toward rational practicality as a basis
for morality. Â
- One writer of the time stated that reason was at
least as important as Biblical authority. Â - Mathers' presbyterian theocracy was attacked and
threatened by congregational liberalism. Â - The Harvard library was now full of books on the
new Rationalism. Â
13Ben Franklin was a leader of the anti-mystics
- He, more than any other, represents the spirit of
The Enlightenment in America. Â - Franklin believed life should be a pursuit of
happiness attained through the art of getting
along with others. - The Thirteen Virtues were not just good because
they were good. He believed they were
practically useful in attaining happiness. Â - He believed in the "Go-getting" measure of worth
by success. Success through honest labor was
desirable. - He believed moral virtue is the key to "getting
on" in life. Â
14Thomas Paine
- Wrote The Age of Reason, (1794).
- He believed mysticism destroyed the true values
of Christianity. Â - He believed religion must be made consistent with
reason. Â - God is the First Cause (Watchmaker theory).
- God acts through nature for the good of man. Â
- He systematically attacked the Gospels as
superstitious and irrational. - Because of these writings, he was misunderstood
as trying to destroy religion. Â - His true intention was to save the best of
Christian ideals. Â
15The New Rationalism
- The New Rationalism was never a movement followed
by the masses. - It was only a philosophy accepted among the few
highly educated intellectuals. Â - The common people didn't read Franklin, Paine,
etc. Â - The movement away from Calvinism came mostly from
the hardheaded desire of small private citizens
to be productive and successful in this new land
with an expanding merchant and farm economy. Â
16Chapter III - The Politics of the Enlightenment
17Radical New View of Politics
- We take these ideas for granted today, but after
centuries of European thinking about God and
kings, the new "Enlightened" view of politics was
radical. It went something like this - Politics and economics were no longer considered
divine forces, but they were believed to be
within man's control. Â - It was Labor, not Property, which was the basic
measure of value. Â - The highest goal was individual advancement, not
social authority. Â
18Basic requirements for individual advancement
- The individual must possess initiative and
self-reliance. Â - He must have a free rein to determine his own
destiny. He must have freedom of thought,
speech, and worship. Â
19The Natural Rights of Man
- The English philosopher John Locke wrote that
nature grants man the rights to life, liberty,
and property. - Jefferson changed property to the "pursuit of
happiness". Â
20Governments are necessary to preserve order
- Government must be a servant of the people. Â
- Government must guarantee man's natural rights. Â
- The authority of government comes from certain,
limited rights freely given up by the people, not
taken from them. Â - The Social Contract any time the rights of
individuals are forced by government from people,
the contract is void, and the government is no
longer recognized. Â
21The real intent if this philosophy is to create a
classless society
- America came closest to this dream of a classless
society in the Eighteenth C., before and during
the Revolutionary War. Â - The dream failed due to the lack of education and
experience of the common man. Â - It was the wealthy, educated men who led us out
of serious trouble in our first attempts at
self-government under The Articles of
Confederation. It was these men who created The
United States of America. Â - Jefferson believed strongly in the dream of a
classless society, but even he realized the
common man wasn't ready without education and
experience. Â
22The great gift of the Enlightenment
- The period of the Enlightenment was short-lived,
but gave us a great gift in creating our American
traditional values. - The Declaration of Independence.
- The Bill of Rights.
- We still strive to live up to these ideals.
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