American Literature 17001820
The Enlightenment and the
Age of Reason
The Age of Reason
What is “reason”?
To think logically
How did
Enlightenment
thinkers differ from
scientists?
They applied reason to the
“human world” not just the
natural world!
The Human
world includes
government and
law
Natural World:
Scientists applied
reason to it using the
scientific method
THE AMERICAN
ENLIGHTENMENT
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1775-1783 American Revolution
American independence seen as a divine sign that America and her
people were destined for greatness. Military victory fanned
nationalistic hopes for a great new literature. Yet except for political
writing, few works of note appeared during or soon after the
Revolution.
1790 American Copyright Law
American books were harshly reviewed in England. The search for a
native literature became a national obsession. The copyright law of
1790, which allowed pirating, was nationalistic in intent. Drafted by
Noah Webster, the great lexicographer who later compiled an
American dictionary, the law protected only the work of American
authors; it was felt that English writers should look out for themselves.
Causes of the American Revolution
page 460 - 461
The 13 English
Colonies
Growing
Discontent
Early Clashes
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 Boston Massacre
French and
Indian War drained
global trade
British treasury.
 Mercantilist
 Britain passed
policies
and enforced new
 Navigation Acts:
regulated colonial tax law on the
colonists
trade
 “No taxation
 Colonists felt
without
entitled to the
representation.”
rights of English
citizens
 Part of British
Boston Tea Party
 Punitive laws
passed by British to
punish colonists
 Continental
Congress with
representatives from
all 13 colonies
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Boston Tea Party (1773)
Let’s Party Like It’s 1699!
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.
 What factors help explain the movement away
from the severe faith of the Puritans?
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Say What?!?!
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?
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But What About 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?
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– Not necessarily a rejection…
“Benjamin Franklin Drawing
Down Electricity from the Sky”
(Benjamin West, ca. 1816)
“I Just Believe in Science, Okay!”
 “Know then thyself, presume not God to
scan/The proper study of mankind is man.”
(Alexander Pope)
 What does that mean?
The Philosophy
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.
What about Fire and Brimstone?
 Deists also thought that a harmonious
universe proves the beneficence of God.
 How might that be?
Take Your Buckled Shoes and
Shove ‘Em!
Humankind is naturally good. (What was the
Puritan stance on this, again?)
 “Tabula Rasa”
 The more we understand and sympathize with each
other, the richer our social and spiritual lives will
be.
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And Furthermore…
“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?
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– “Nature’s God,” “natural rights” and “public religion”
Neo-Classicism
 What would be the best way for writers in
this era to articulate their views?
 What is the function of their writing, and how
does it differ from the function of Puritan
writing?
 Are there similarities?
Rhetoric
Today this term means “the art of speaking or writing effectively (especially
persuasive speaking or writing).” In Franklin’s time the term meant the same
thing, but more precisely it stood for “the study of principles and rules of
composition formulated by critics of ancient times.”
Reason
If one is “rational,” then he has the ability “to reason.” What does it mean to
reason? Reasoning is a type of thinking used to seek a truth through cause and
effect and through drawing conclusions.
Logic
A system of rules used to express reasoning
Socratic Method
A technique in which a debater does not argue directly but instead asks a series
of questions, with the result that the opponent comes either to the desired
knowledge by answering the questions or to a deeper awareness of the limits of
his knowledge.
Those Greeks Had It Right…
 These writers saw the lit. of the ancient
Greeks and Romans as the ideal to which all
must aspire.
 Emulation of these “classical” styles and
traditions
 Restraint rather than emotion
 Dignified, refined and decorous language
Should We Be Wearing Togas?
 Writing, especially poetry, was seen as having a
public function; it was not seen as a means for
private, individual expression.
 A mode through which timeless truths could be
imparted.
 “self-help”
 “Chicken Soup for the Rational Soul”?
Artifacts of Different Eras
Thou hast a house on high erect,
Framed by that mighty Architect,
With glory richly furnished,
Stands permanent though this be fled.
It’s purchased and paid for too
By Him who hath enough to do.
A price so vast as is unknown
Yet by His gift is made thine own;
There’s wealth enough, I need no more,
Farewell, my pelf, farewell my store.
The world no longer let me love,
My hope and treasure lies above.
(Bradstreet, 1666)
While virtue warms the generous breast,
There heaven-born freedom shall reside,
Nor shall the voice of war molest,
Nor Europe’s all-aspiring pride –
There Reason shall new laws devise,
And order from confusion rise.
Forsaking kings and regal state,
With all their pomp and fancied bliss,
The traveler [admits], convinced though late,
No realm so free, so blessed as this –
The east is half to slaves consigned,
Where kings and priests enchain the mind.
(“On the Religion of Nature,” Philip
Freneau, 1785)
Order and Virtue
 We should organize our lives into an ordered
sequence of reasoned and virtuous thoughts
and behaviors
 Aim is “human perfection”
 How would the Puritans have felt about the
concept of humans perfecting themselves for
themselves and by themselves?
The Literature
The Declaration of Independence
(1776)
We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights,
that among these are Life, Liberty
and the pursuit of Happiness.
Declaration of Independence
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Drafted by Thomas
Jefferson
People had the right to
“alter or abolish unjust
governments.”
Popular sovereignty
All government power
comes from the people
King had trampled the
peoples’ natural rights.
Colonists now had the right
to rebel
John Trumbull (1756 –1843): Declaration of Independence (1817)
LITERARY CHARACTERISTICS
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emphasis on logic and rational thought, not emotions;
emphasis on the social/good of the community, not the
individual
presence of numerous classical allusions; use of satire; use of
elevated diction; formal style that adhered to set rhyme
schemes, such as couplets; two-dimensional characters or
stock types that represent a class or vice
Influence of Drama-comic satires
rise of literary magazines
novel in various forms, including picaresque, gothic, and novel
of manners
Newspapers and Books
Many newspapers!
 Colonists began to publish their own books
 Almanacs were very popular.
 Published poetry, regional history,
autobiographies
 “Captive Narrative” was a unique form of
literature found in the colonies
 It told the stories of people captured by
Indians
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Literature of the American
Revolution:
in an age of revolution, literature was of course
greatly influenced by political texts
 non-fictional texts
e.g. Thomas Paine: Common Sense (1776),
Thomas Jefferson: Notes on the State of Virginia
(1782)
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Key Writers of the Age of Reason
Ben Franklin
1706-1790
 Philosopher, scientist,
publisher, legislator, and
diplomat
 Relationship with France
 “First American”
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– Colonial unity
– Idea of an American nation
Michel-Guillaume Jean de
Crèvecoeur (1753-1813)
“farmer’s letters”: Letters From An American Farmer
(1782)
 a series of letters,
 Set in rural America on the cusp of the Revolution,
these pieces celebrate the independence of the yeoman
farmer from the hierarchy and corruption of the Old
World
 Crevecoeur illustrates the idealized version of a free
society, America, a civic-humanist ideal of the freehold
farm, virtuous independence and incorruptibility
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Philip Freneau (1752-832):
“Father of American Poetry”
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Poet of American Independence: Freneau provides
incentive and inspiration to the revolution by
writing such poems as "The Rising Glory of
America" (1771) and "Pictures of Columbus.“
(1774)
(patriotic verse)
first American poet to write about the Indians:
“The Indian Burying Ground” (1788); “The Dying
Indian” (1784)
anti-slavery poetry: “To Sir Toby” (1792)
Phillis Wheatley
On Being Brought from Africa to America
'Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there's a God, that there's a Saviour too:
‘The first
African-American
to print a book
(of poetry)’
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
Their colour is a diabolic die.
Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,
May be refin'd and join th'angelic train.
(1773)