Revolutionaries

Rationalists

And

PHILOSOPHY OF REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD

AGE OF REASON: (ENLIGHTENMENT) BEGAN IN EUROPE IN 1600S

•RATIONALISM: BELIEF THAT HUMAN BEINGS CAN ARRIVE AT TRUTH (SPIRITUAL AND SCIENTIFIC) THROUGH REASON AND LOGIC, NOT FAITH

• BELIEFS WERE OPPOSED TO THOSE OF PURITANS

PHILOSOPHY OF REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD• DEISM: BELIEF THAT GOD WOULD REVEAL

HIMSELF THROUGH REASON AND LOGIC

– BELIEVERS CAME FROM ALL BACKGROUNDS

– GENERALLY SPEAKING, THEY WERE FORWARD THINKERS WHO WERE INTERESTED IN SCIENTIFIC PROGRESS

PHILOSOPHY OF REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD

• MAJOR BELIEFS OF RATIONALISTS AND DEISTS– UNIVERSE IS ORDERLY AND GOOD– HUMANITY IS INHERENTLY GOOD– PERFECTABILITY OF HUMANS THROUGH

REASON• BEST FORM OF WORSHIP: DO GOOD FOR OTHERS—

ROOTS OF SOCIAL WELFARE SYSTEM• HUMAN HISTORY IS MARKED BY PROGRESS TOWARD

A MORE PERFECT EXISTENCE

– GOD CREATED THE UNIVERSE, BUT HE DOESN’T CONTROL YOUR DESTINY (FREE WILL!)

MAJOR INFLUENCES ON AMERICAN RATIONALISTS AND

DEISTS• SIR ISAAC NEWTON:

BRITISH RATIONALIST AND SCIENTIST

• JOHN LOCKE: BRITISH PHILOSOPHER—FIRST TO CLAIM THAT ALL MEN HAD “INALIENABLE RIGHTS” (What are the American ones?)– HEAVILY INFLUENCED

JEFFERSON

Patrick Henry

• Recognized as most persuasive orator (define) of the Rev. War Period– Effective persuasion appeals to both

reason/logic and emotion• Reason/logic

– Uses facts, statistics, and examples

• Emotion– Uses words, images and anecdotes to arouse the

reader/listener’s feelings, hopes and beliefs

Patrick Henry

• Influenced by the oratory style of Puritan preachers of the Great Awakening

• Chosen as a representative to the House of Burgess (VA) at 29– Stamp Act Speech 1765– “Give Me Liberty…” Speech to VA Convention

1775• Speech was impromptu after several speeches

urged the people to compromise• Outcome: persuaded delegates to arm the militias

Thomas Paine

• Most persuasive WRITER of the Rev. War Period– Wrote “Common Sense” pamphlet

• 47 page document published in January of 1776– Denounced King George and supported American

Independence

• Returned to Europe after Rev. War—continued involvement in radical politics– Wrote The Rights of Man—called for British overthrow

of royalty– Final work, The Age of Reason, laid out the principles

of Deism

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN1706-1790

• ONE OF 17 CHILDREN—WHOA!

• BY AGE 24—OWNED HIS OWN PRINT SHOP AND NEWSPAPER

• FOUNDED THE ACADEMY OF PENNSYLVANIA (UPENN)

• FOUNDED THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

• FOUNDED THE FIRST PUBLIC LIBRARY

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

• SCIENTIST AND INVENTOR– RESEARCH INTO

ELECTRICITY– OPEN HEATING

STOVE– BIFOCAL GLASSES– HARMONICA– ROCKING CHAIR

THAT SWATTED FLIES

BEN FRANKLIN

• POLITICIAN AND STATESMAN– REPRESENTATIVE TO ENGLAND FOR PA

ASSEMBLY IN 1750S AND 1760S– REPRESENTATIVE TO FRANCE FOR

AMERICA DURING REVOLUTIONARY WAR– MEMBER OF CONSTITUTIONAL

CONVENTION– FIRST US POSTMASTER– FIRST SECRETARY OF STATE

Thomas Jefferson• Became 3rd president of The United States

• Accomplished statesman, architect, botanist, paleontologist, linguist, and musician.

• Attended College of William & mary

• After college became a lawyer, member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, and a spokesperson for the rights of personal liberty and religious freedom.

TJ Continued

• He established his reputation with the release of a written pamphlet entitled “A Summary View of the Rights of British America.”  This document called for the rejection of parliamentary authority.  

• Two years later he was called upon as the primary writer for the Declaration of Independence.

Phillis Wheatley

• One of very few famous women from this period• Remarkable because not not only wasp she a

woman, but she was black and enslaved• Owned by kind, educated people in Boston who

realized her potential and gave her an education• Began publishing poetry at just 13 years old and

continued throughout the war• Her poems were read and loved by the likes of

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson