The Founding Fathers:
Neoclassicists
1750-1820
Emphasized
reason,
harmony,
and restraint
In both oral and written
communication
Also some embraced Deism
New scientific discoveries and
philosophical thinking challenge
the role of faith and establishes
and either-or mentality between
men of “reason” and men of
“faith”


Dominant philosophy among the educated
classes in Europe and America
Believed human reason capable of solving
social and political problems

Supreme Being who operates only through
natural laws

No belief in the supernatural
 Did not accept Jesus as the Son of God
Puritans
Deists
Puritans
Founding Fathers
•Deist
•Christian
•Believed in
•Neoclassic
•Plain Puritan
community
Style
Style
•Intellectual thinkers
•Political
•Personal,
•Shaped America
literature
devotional
literature

Neoclassicists believed that humans are
natural creatures of God and have rights that
cannot be violated or usurped.

Based on John Locke’s philosophical outlook,
Neoclassicism views humans as good and
rational, deserving the rights of worship, a
voice in government, and property ownership



Individual or natural rights have to be
reconciled with societal unity.
People consent to protect each other from
harm and provide tools and necessities that
are not naturally occurring.
It requires that people give up personal,
individual freedoms in order to establish
societal rules.



4th and 5th generation Americans happily
living as English subjects until…
King George II imposes regulations that
threaten the liberties of colonists
The mind of the nation is on politics and it
is reflected in the literature produced


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Unlike the personal writing of the Puritans,
the Revolutionary Period produced public
political writing
Nearly 30 newspapers and almanacs were
popular in all the colonies
Much that is known about private life in the
period comes from letters