Rationalism
“Age of Reason”
The pendulum swings far from Puritans—
the obvious dichotomy of time periods
Vocabulary
Deism
 American Dream
 Connotation
 Denotation

Historical Background

1600’s: Scientific Revolution

Time to reason and experiment
 Sir


Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
Discovers laws of gravity--physics
People want real answers for events
 Ex.

Smallpox breakout: Boston 1721
Cotton Mather (1663-1728)



Puritan doctor
Inoculates 300 people – saves town!!
Creates a life of leisure (faster, easier, better)
Historical Background

1700-1800’s: The Enlightenment
 Questioning
place in life
 Technology
has created free time to think
 Ponder: equality, happiness, power, property,
government, inalienable rights, freedom, etc.
 American
 Result
Revolution (1775-1783)
of Enlightenment in the colonies
 Declaration of Independence (1776)

Deism:
Themes and Beliefs
 God
created the universe but does not interfere
in its workings
 Clockmaker
Analogy– makes the watch, winds it,
then leaves it alone
 World
operates according to God’s rules –use
reason to discover those rules
 “God
made it” stories (origin/creation myths) no
longer good enough
 God
wants people to be happy --worship God
best by helping other people
Themes and Beliefs

Conquering vs. surviving nature
 Birth
of cities
 Self-made Americans emerge
 Tradesmen
(silversmith, newspapers)
 Making money

Education
 Shift
from moral teachings to
practical/scientific
Form and Style
Rooted in reality
 Appeals to logic
 Forms of writing

 Practical
and sometimes political
 Pamphlets
 Newspaper
 Speeches

articles
The Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin
First American tale of the self-made man
 Beginning of the American Dream

Connections??
 Do
we see similar Rationalist beliefs and
themes today? How? Why? Why/not?
 Is there any writing, film, music, etc. today
that has a similar form or style to the
Rationalists?
 Does this connect with any of your other
classes? Studies?