The Enlightenment & the American Revolution

“Reality is what I observe with my own senses”

Great Awakening results• Increase of new members: 30-40,000 • Increase of new churches: 1740-60: 150 congs.• Increase in students to prepare for the ministry• Increase in new denominations: Bapt. &

Methodists• New stress on Missions

• Aided in beginning the American Revolution

Linkage of the Scientific Revolution to the Enlightenment

• Belief in Progress– The successes of the Scientific Revolution gave

philosophes the confidence that human reason could solve social problems.

• More secular Perspective– Scientists made discoveries that contradicted &

challenged religious teachings. • Importance of the Individual

– People turned away from the Church & royalty for guidance - looked to themselves.

– Encouraged to use their own abilities & reason to problem solve

Core Values

• 1. Reason – truth could be discovered through reason

• 2. Happiness – rejected medieval belief that people should concentrate on finding happiness in the hereafter rather than finding contentment & joy in this world

• 3. Progress – Humankind could improve• 4. Liberty – called for liberties achieve from

the Glorious Revolution in the English Bill of Rights

Enlightenment attitudes

• (1) A desire for rationality, logic, consistency.• (2) A rejection of emotionalism• (3) A preference for evidence, not faith• (4) Increased interest in science, mathematics,

geometry• (5) An admiration for Greece and Rome and an

abhorrence for everything medieval.• (6) A preference for the artificial over the natural,• technology over wilderness.

Enlightenment impact on society(1) A disdain of “messiness” and “chaos” as being

unharmonious.(2) A preference for democracy.(3) A preference for civilized, polite discussion of

ideas. Conclusions reached by intelligent debate--not force.

(4) A desire to create social standards based on reason--not tradition.

(5) An embrace of monotheistic Deism rather than traditional Trinitarian doctrines.

1700’s: A Changing World• 18th century was a period of major change in

American ideas and ideals.

• As with beliefs of Puritans, changes originated in England, but took on new spirit and meaning in colonies.

• Puritans, however, did not disappear. The period became a struggle b/w The Age of Reason and The Age of Faith.

Puritan Impact

• Enlightenment thinkers de-emphasized “grace” and “pre-destination” in favor of “moral choice” and scientific inquiry.– “virtue,” “order,” “reason,” “sympathy”

• How do you think religious figures felt about this changing view of the universe and how people should function within it?

Providence

• Enlightenment brought a new, exciting way of seeing the universe…

• universe as an orderly system • With application of reason, humanity would

comprehend universe (think of Newton’s Laws). • How might this change the way the common

man felt about religion and God?– Not necessarily a rejection…

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Deism

• A system of belief that a transcendent God left his creation to be governed by Natural Laws discernable by reason.

• “God is absentee”• No miracles, no revelation, no God-man• Jesus as Moral Teacher• Bible as guidebook for ethical life, virtue, piety• Deists were a “minority within a minority”

Deism

• Many of these thinkers (including Jefferson and Franklin) called themselves “Deists.”

• Man can deduce the existence of a supreme being from the fact that the universe exists rather than because of what the Bible says.

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Deism: Origin• Science: universe operated on fixed principles,

hence, is a machine operating by fixed natural laws– Copernicus, Galileo (helio-centricism), Newton (gravity)

• Philosophy: if universe runs on fixed laws,then the universe can be known by Reason, without Revelation– Francis Bacon – Inductive method (observe vs. authority)

• Theology: man can start with himself and find truth apart from any help– Descartes: “I think, therefore I am” (mathematical laws)

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Deism: Results

• Contributed to the concept that: if a ruler failed in

responsibility, the people could revolt

– Root of American Revolution

• Developed the concept of man’s goodness

• Developed theory on destructive criticism of Bible

• Deists also thought that a harmonious universe proves the beneficence of God.

• Humankind is naturally good. (What was the Puritan stance on this, again?)

• “Tabula Rasa” – blank slate– Individuals free to choose own soul/character– Basic “natural” human rights come from our natural

human state

• The more we understand and sympathize with each other, the richer our social and spiritual lives will be.

• “Our business here on Earth is not to know all

things, but those which concern our conduct.” (Locke)

• So are these people entirely different from the Puritans? What’s similar?

• Founders and Faith?– “Nature’s God,” “natural rights” and “public

religion”

Join, or Die Political Cartoon by Benjamin FranklinA political cartoon calling for American colonies to band together for

protection against Indians and the French. First published in the Pennsylvania Gazette on May 9, 1754.

Proclamation of 1763

• Forbid colonists to settle west of the Appalachian Mountains.

• Created to protect colonists from the Indians• Many colonists reacted with anger toward the

Proclamation. They did not like being told what to do or where they could live.

Taxes• French and Indian War cost a lot of money.• Parliament (the British government) decided to

tax to colonies to help pay for it. • The first tax was the Sugar Act of 1764. It placed

a tax on molasses and sugar imported by the colonies.

• Stamp Act of 1765 placed a tax on all printed material, such as newspapers and playing cards.

• This tax upset the colonists even more.• Colonists couldn’t tax to help with the Revolution

NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION

• The colonists claimed “no taxation without representation” because they were being taxed but had no vote in Parliament and had no say in how the colonies were being governed.

• The colonists started a boycott, or a refusal to buy certain goods, from the British.

Boston Massacre• Colonial men were shouting insults at the British

soldiers and throwing things.• Someone yelled “fire” and the Red Coats (British

soldiers) shot. • Five colonists were killed. These were the first

Americans killed in the War for Independence.• Sam Adams started calling the incident the Boston

Massacre. He used the incident to get more people angry at the British.

• This on the heels of S. Adams tar and feathering tax collectors

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Religion as a Cause of the Revolution

• Influence of the 1st Great Awakening

• Fear of English political control thru Anglicanism

• Clergy molded public opinion by political sermons

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Religion in Consequence of the Revolution:

• Religion declined because of attention to War

• Reorganizational process for denominations led to a decline of interest in evangelism

• Stress on rights & worth of the individual led to a decline of Calvinism

• Not all American leaders were orthodox religiously