Enlightenment Authors and Themes

Enlightenment Authors and ThemesJ. SchwartzEnglish IIIFall 20111Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)One of the leading minds of the coloniesWorked as: printer, publisher, politician, diplomat, scientistAn early Renaissance ManCredited with hundreds of aphorismsBest known for having writtenPoor Richards AlmanackAutobiography

2The Myth of the New American ManMen and women who came to America were more independent and rational than those who had stayed behind in Europe.Humans have the capacity to define themselves.Importance of self-reliance and self-sufficiency.3Themes in Franklins Philosophy and WorkSecularized PuritanismQuest for Moral Perfection vs. Social AchievementProtestant Work EthicReligion as a Philosophical ModelSelf-Scrutiny

4Patrick Henry (1736-1799)Famous orator and lawyerMost famous speech delivered to Virginia House of Burgesses on March 23, 1775, in which he advocated that the Virginia legislature take immediate action against the British military. Compared British treatment of colonists to the treatment of slaves5Give me liberty or give me death!Argued that a lack of natural rights would mean a lack of human potential and developmentHenry used fear appeals in his speechesFear of British tyranny and military domination

6Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)Jefferson was the embodiment of the Enlightenment man.Studied science, literature, politics, and reason.Considered politics to be the least important achievement in life, yet:Wrote The Declaration of Independence (1776)3rd United States President (1800-1808)Responsible for The Louisiana Purchase 7Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration What did Jefferson believe?Hugely influenced by leading political thinkers of EuropeBelieved in educationBelieved in an agrarian country

8Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration The Declaration of IndependencePowerfully establishes the tyranny of the king. Colonists can focus hostilityHolds that free people have the right to break free from an unjust government.Argument based on rationality Problems: Equality vs. Equality of opportunityExclusion of certain groups: women, black slaves, Native Americans9Jefferson and the Declaration4 central purposes for the Declaration:Getting reluctant colonists to realize that loyalty to Britain was a lost causeExplaining the colonists position on the purpose of human governmentListing the colonists grievances against King George III to show the legitimacy of their actions to othersTo encourage other nations to help themReasons for the DeclarationUnfair Taxation

Unfair RepresentationLocal Representatives couldnt make own lawsColonists couldnt elect own officials / judgesLegislators who stood up were often dismissedLaws passed making emigration difficultMolasses ActProclamation of 1763Sugar ActCurrency ActStamp ActQuartering ActThe Declaration and Deductive Reasoning Deductive Reasoning proceeds from a general premise or assumption to a specific conclusion (logic). Deduction holds that if all the statements in the argument are true, the conclusion must be true.

DEDUCTIVE ARGUMENTS Syllogism: Argument strategy that consists of:Major premise (a general statement)Minor premise (a related, more specific statement)Conclusion (drawn from the premises)

Deductive arguments center on the idea of solid logic. The idea is that if the reader grants the major and minor premises to be true, then they must grant the conclusion to be true. When the conclusion logically follows the major and minor premise, the conclusion is said to be valid (556).

The Declaration and Deductive Reasoning Thomas Jefferson on SlaveryJefferson owned many slaves, but often spoke out against slavery.His rhetoric suggested he believed in equal rights, but his practices did not.

14Jefferson Memorial, Washington D.C.