The Age of Reason

To Think or Argue in a Logical Manner.

To Form Conclusions, Judgments, or

Inferences From Facts or Premises.

Background

Ben Franklin

Thomas Jefferson

The Franklin Project

Style, Format, Purpose

Patrick Henry

Thomas Paine

Persuasive Essay

Book Notes: Age of Reason

Tinkerers and Experimenters:

• Rationalism: belief that human beings can arrive at truth by using reason, rather than by relying on the authority of the past, on religious faith, or on intuition.– Clockmaker Theory: God created the perfect universe &

left his creation to run on its own• Believed that God’s special gift to humanity was the

ability to reason. Therefore, everyone is capable of regulating and improving their own life

The Smallpox Plague

• Cotton Mather: Devised by a Turkish physician, Mather furthered inoculation in the New England– Great protest by the medical community to the

experiment Mather began & especially protested a method developed by a Muslim.

– In November of 1721, Mather’s house was bombed

– Despite opposition he succeeded in inoculating nearly 300 people

Deism: Are People Basically Good?

Religion: Rationalist believed that God would choose to reveal himself only at particular times to particular people.

Deists: came from all different types of religious backgrounds but avoided supporting specific religious groups.

- Sought principals that united all religions

- Stressed humanity’s goodness

- God’s objective was the happiness of his creatures: the best way to worship was to do good for others.

Self-made Americans

• Writing during the Age of Reason was rooted in reality.– The age of pamphlets: because literature was to

serve a practical purpose or political purpose

• Franklin: used the autobiographical narrative but left out the religious justification for the purpose of the writing or the content

The Shift From Age of Faith to Age of Reason

• Survival was guaranteed; The puritans were no longer struggling to provide the basics: food, shelter, & clothing

• Population had increased, there were bigger cities which became self-sufficient

• Puritans began to look outward to see how their lives could become better

3 Items That Drove the Colonialist to Rebel!

• Stamp Act: must purchase a “stamp” in order to purchase up to 54 different items

• Townshed Act: taxed paper, paint, glass, lead, & tea

• Tea Act: English monopolized

the American tea trade

The Stamp Act was passed by the British Parliament on March 22, 1765. The new tax was imposed on all American colonists and required them to pay a tax on every piece of printed paper they used. Ship's papers, legal documents, licenses, newspapers, other publications, and even playing cards were taxed. The money collected by the Stamp Act was to be used to help pay the costs of defending and protecting the American frontier near the Appalachian Mountains (10,000 troops were to be stationed on the American frontier for this purpose).

The Townshend Acts, were sponsored by Chancellor of the Exchequer Charles

Townshend. The key statute levied import duties on glass, lead, paint, paper, and tea. Its

purpose was to provide salaries for some colonial officials so that the provincial assemblies could not coerce them by

withholding wages.

On May 10, 1773, the British parliament authorized the East India Co., which faced bankruptcy due to corruption and mismanagement, to export a half a million pounds of tea to the American colonies for the purpose of selling it without imposing upon the company the usual duties and tariffs. With these privileges, the company could undersell American merchants and monopolize the colonial tea trade. Not only did this action create an unfair commerce to the merchants of the colonies but it proved to be the spark that revived American passions about the issue of taxation without representation.

                                                

The Boston Massacre was the killing of five colonists by British soldiers on March 5, 1770. It was the culmination of civilian-military tensions that had been growing since royal troops first appeared in Massachusetts in October 1768 to enforce the heavy tax burden imposed by the Townshend Acts.

Style, Format, & Purpose

• Style: complex & metaphorical• Format: speeches, pamphlets, editorials, &

news articles• Purpose: to disseminate information & to persuade

Born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 17, 1706

At age 84, Benjamin Franklin dies in Philadelphia on April 17, 1790

•The oldest signer of The Declaration of Independence

•1 of 17 children

•Established the Pennsylvania Gazette which later became the Saturday Evening post

•Wrote under 7 different pen names

•Known as the Patron Saint of Advertising

•Known as the 1st American Humorist

•Only founding father to sign The Declaration of Independence, The Constitution, & the Treaty of Paris

http://www.pbs.org.benfranklin

Benjamin Franklin

A Quick Biography of B. Franklin• Franklin’s Background:• Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17,

1706• Benjamin was one of 17 children; Benjamin was the

10th child and youngest son.• At the age of 17 Franklin ran away to New York,

New Jersey, & finally Philadelphia seeking a new start in a new city. When he first arrived he

worked in several printer shops around town.

• In 1729 Benjamin Franklin bought a newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette. (Which is now the Saturday Evening Post)

• In 1728 Benjamin fathered a child named William The mother of William is not known. However, in 1730 Benjamin married his childhood sweetheart, Deborah Reed

• Franklin died April 17, 1790 at the age of 84. 20,000 people attended the funeral of the man who was called,

“the harmonious human multitude”

Founding Father • Franklin structured “The Great Compromise“: larger

states would have their way in the lower house of the legislature, where representatives would be selected according to population. The upper house or Senate would have an equal number of senators from each state.

• Oldest Signer of the Constitution • Ben signed all three of the major documents that freed

the colonies from British rule – The Declaration of Independence– The Treaty of Paris – The United States Constitution.

Fire Fighter & Insurance• Members of the fire company pledged to help one another should fire break

but or threaten on of their homes or businesses.

• Members were not required to help protect properties of non-members.

• Members had to provide at least two buckets for carrying water and several cloth bags for carrying items rescued from the fire.

• Members agreed to make equal payments to the contributionship, which would be used to pay for losses any member would sustain through fire to his property.

• The first policies had a term of seven years. After the policies expired, the premium money was returned to the policyholders. In the first year of operation, 143 policies were written.

• Also established life insurance and crop insurance

Wit-n-Wisdom• Franklin used this convention extensively throughout his life,

sometimes to express an idea that might have been considered slanderous or even illegal by the authorities; other times to present two sides of an issue,

• When Franklin used a pseudonym, he often created an entire persona – Mrs. Dogood was Franklin's first pseudonym. Her letters dealt with a range

of topics from love and courtship to the state of education in Massachusetts. – Busy Body —her letters were filled with humorous looks at the battle of the

sexes and barbs at local businessmen. Gossip was Busy Body's stock in trade.

– Anthony Afterwit — Franklin created this "gentleman" to provide a humorous look at matrimony and married life from a male point of view.

– Alice Addertongue — Miss Addertongue was a thirty-five year old gossip who provided Franklin's Pennsylvania Gazette with stories of scandal about prominent members of society.

Weather Wise

• Gulf stream could be used to improve the speed of vessels England and U.S

• Wrote meteorological imaginations and conjectures

• Developed a theory about the existence of high and low pressure

It’s The Little Things

• He never patented any of his many inventions:– Swim Fins– Lightening Rod– Daylight Savings Time– Street Lights

Read All About It

• Franklin considered himself 1st and foremost a publisher & believed that the truth should be printed even if it wasn’t popular.

Abolitionist

• Like most people of his period, Franklin initially believed that African slaves and their offspring were inferior to white Europeans and that they couldn't be educated.

• He began to question his beliefs when he visited a school where young African children were being taught. In 1763, he wrote a letter to an English friend where he stated, – "I was on the whole much pleased, and from what I

then saw, have conceived a higher opinion of the natural capacities of the black race, than I had ever before entertained. Their apprehension seems as quick, their memory as strong, and their docility in every respect equal to that of white children."

Things To Know About Ben

• He invented:– Bifocals– The lighting rod– The glass harmonica– Established the 1st: library, fire station, and

insurance company

Vocabulary from The Autobiography

• arduous adj.: difficult.

• rectitude n.: correctness.

• facilitate v.: make easier.

• subsequent adj.: following.

• eradicate v.: eliminate

• Avarice n.: insatiable desire for wealth

• Vigilance v.: watchfulness

Virtues To Master. Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation. • Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself;

avoid trifling conversation. • Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part

of your business have its time. • Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform

without fail what you resolve. • Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or

yourself; i.e., waste nothing.   • Industry. Lose no time; be always employed in something

useful; cut off all unnecessary actions. • Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and

justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

• Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty. 

• Moderation. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

• Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation. 

• Tranquility. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable. 

• Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation. 

• Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

                                  

Known as the most persuasive writer of the time period

Earned a law degree

1st Governor of Virginia

His support was vital to the passage of the Bill of Rights

Most famous line: “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!”

Patrick Henry

Buzz Words:

Orator: skilled, eloquent public speaker

Three things an orator does:

* spreads a message

* gains support

* sways opinion

Oratorical Devices

a. Rhetorical question: a question not meant to be answered but meant to provoke thought

b. Restatement: stating an idea in several different ways to get your idea across to everyone

c. Repetition: restating an idea in the exact same words to emphasize a point

d. Charged Words: words that evoke an intense emotional response

The Speech To The Virginia Convention

Who: Patrick HenryWhat: Speech Where: Virginia When: March 23, 1775Why: to persuade Virginia Delegates

to go to Philadelphia to vote for independence

Overview of SpeechA: fight a war for freedom or be slaves to the British

B. Discussion should be open & honest because God gave us brains and we should use them to come to a logical and correct decision (Rationalism/Deism)

C. Henry did not want to offend anyone

D. Mythological Allusion: man naturally wants to deny the awful and is eternally hopeful

Aphorism: a short simple statement telling one how to best live their life. There are two aphorisms in a row here

“I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst of it, and to prepare for it.”

“I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience.”

E. Biblical Allusion: demonstrating that the British say one thing but plan on doing another.

F. Wants the delegates to recognize that the actions of the British do not match with what the delegates are hoping for.

G. Henry is establishing a timeline:A. Why the British are sending troops B. How the colonialists have protested such actionsC. What the British are doing in turn to those protests

H. Henry’s repeated questions drive home what “We have” done and emphasizes that “We have” done a lot.

Call To Action: informing your audience what you want them to do

I. The repeated exclamation points affect the reader by inciting the urgency of the message.

J. Henry’s dramatic ending is his most famous quote.