Age of Reason

Enlightenment
 What is Age of Reason
The 18th-century American Enlightenment was a movement
marked by an emphasis on rationality rather than tradition,
scientific inquiry instead of unquestioning religious dogma, and
representative government in place of monarchy. Enlightenment
thinkers and writers were devoted to the ideals of justice, liberty,
and equality as the natural rights of man.
The Enlightenment was, at its center, a celebration of ideas ideas
about what the capabilities of the human mind, and what could be
achieved through deliberate action and scientific methodology.
Many of the new, enlightened ideas were political in nature.
Intellectuals began to consider the possibility that freedom and
democracy were the fundamental rights of all people, not gifts
bestowed upon them by beneficent monarchs or popes.
 Age of reason influences
1650-1800's
The age of reason started in Europe. As Science progresses, the glorification of
mans ideas and ability to reason progressed as well
Influences for this movement are:
Rationalists
Isaac Newton
Other Scientists
Religious teachings
 The Shift
America was changing from the colonial time period where puritan values
were exalted above all other ideas to where now reason and logic are found
above all other ideas.
This changed happened for many reasons:
Puritan suffocation
British pressure
Political movements
 The new focus
Mans ability to make decisions
Scientific explanation for logical occurrences (although many of the age of
reason writers were highly religious)
Moral law
Justice above compromise
The betterment of the whole through the betterment of one's self (Study)
 Key Players
Benjamin Franklin (1706 1790)
Thomas Paine (1737 1809)
Thomas Jefferson (1743 1826)
Alexander Hamilton (1757 1804)
 Benjamin Franklin
Not only did he help father the Declaration of Independence, He also Wrote
many pieces of literature including a memoir on his own life.
He often wrote in Aphorisms which are: a pithy observation that
contains a general truth, such as, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
He was an inventor along with a politician, and he also served as
the spokesperson for America while negotiating the revolutionary
war.
 Activity
Read through the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and Poor Richard's
Almanack
Split into groups and complete activity