The Enlightenment in the United States
Content
The Enlightenment in the United States 摘 nlightenment is the liberation of man from his self-caused state of minority...Supere aude! Dare to use your own understanding! Is thus the motto of the Enlightenment(Immanuel Kant, What is Enlightenment?). The Enlightenment, also know as 典 he Second Great Awakening or 典 he Age of easonwas a !hiloso!hical mo"ement in the #$th and #%th centuries, which initiall& s!read through England, 'rance and German&. It was largel& the !roduct of great scientific and intellectual disco"eries in Euro!e ((rinkle& )$). This mo"ement was recognition of the !ower of 塗 uman reasoning where it was theori*ed that man did not alwa&s ha"e to turn to God for guidance. ather, man could rel& on himself to make the right decision. In addition to +roadening mans inde!endent wa& of thought, The Enlightenment also hel!ed encourage ad"ancements in man& fields like go"ernment, !olitics, religion, and science. Though this mo"ement was ,uite contro"ersial and not acce!ted +& man& right awa&, it directl& ins!ired the creation of the world-s first great democrac&, the United States of America (Smith). The Enlightenment was "er& im!ortant in determining man& as!ects of colonial America. .ithout the central ideas of The Enlightenment, America would ha"e +een much different es!eciall& in the terms of go"ernmental structure and !olitics. (& a+andoning old English constitutionalism, and creating a new re!u+lic +ased on the rights and reasoning of the indi"idual, colonial America introduced a "er& nota+le force in the world. /ne of the first ste!s in furthering the growth of the United States, +ased u!on Enlightenment ideals, was the creation of the 0eclaration of Inde!endence (Smith). Thomas 1efferson took the main ideas a+out Enlightenment from 1ohn 2ocke as a guide for creating the 0eclaration. .ith 2ocke-s ideas in mind, the
im!lementation of the 0eclaration sought to guarantee !ersonal freedom to all American citi*ens +& gi"ing them the right to ha"e their own stance on the American go"ernment, and !resenting them with the rights of 鏑 ife, 2i+ert& and the 3ursuit of 4a!!iness .illiam .ollaston, the author of the +ook The religion of ature Delineated, e5!lains where the term 鍍 he 3ursuit of 4a!!inessstems from. 的 t is the truest definition of natural religion,he sa&s, 殿 s +eing The pursuit of happiness +& the !ractice of reason and truth. 2ater, as America mo"ed closer to the creation of the 6onstitution, !hiloso!hers of The Enlightenment were often referred to while creating its draft. 3olitical leaders would refer to (aron de 7ontes,uieu, a 'rench !hiloso!her, whom saw two t&!es of go"ernmental !ower e5isting8 the so"ereign and the administrati"e (.ales). 4e stated that within the administrati"e !owers were the e5ecuti"e, the legislati"e, and the 9udicial +ranches. 3olitical leaders would also refer to 1ean:1ac,ues ousseau, a Swiss:+orn !hiloso!her, whom argued that the !ower to create the laws should +e left in the hands of the citi*ens. The ideals of The Enlightenment gi"en to the United States !olitical leaders +& man& !hiloso!hers contri+uted to a num+er of the im!ortant as!ects in the final draft of the 6onstitution. The United States 6onstitution, in summar&, set u! a go"ernment of re!resentati"es to 電 o the will of the !eo!le and was no dou+t the result of these !hiloso!hers ideas. The use of checks and +alances, the se!aration of !owers, the idea that the go"ernments !ower comes from the !eo!le, and the idea that !eo!le ha"e natural rights to life, li+ert& and !ro!ert&, all came from the influence of The Enlightenment. Another wa& that the Enlightenment hel!ed to sha!e the American colonies was in terms of religion. The 'irst Great awakening, in the #$;;-s, !roduced a large num+er of religious theories and ideas. 4owe"er, these theories and ideas did not full& +egin to show in the American colonies until the Second Great Awakening that America e5!erienced. 迭 eligion could not +e tied
into the American wa& of life or the American re!u+lic itself +ecause of the first amendment and the idea that there is a se!aration +etween 6hurch and State in America, thus lea"ing religion more of an afterthought for man&(7cKinne&). .ith the lack of traditional religious !ractices in the colonies, the idea of using rational thought and some as!ects of religion was more !re"alent. /ne religion that was +orn due to the Age of the Enlightenment was ational Su!ernaturalism. Among these ational Su!ernaturalists were .illiam 6hillingworth, 1ohn Tillotson, and most recogni*a+l&, 1ohn 2ocke. These rational su!ernaturalists +elie"ed that 途 e"elation ma& +e a+o"e reason,(.alsh). These +elie"ers also stood +& the idea that though there are 杜 iracleswritten in the (i+le, reason has the last word in almost e"er& situation. Though ational Su!ernaturalism seems "er& e5treme and com!le5, 0eism was more radical and more largel& !racticed. 0eism, the +elief that God has created the uni"erse +ut remains a!art from it and !ermits his creation to administer itself through natural laws (dictionar&.com), +ecame a "er& !o!ular +elief in America during the time of The Enlightenment. 0eism was !o!ular among the !hiloso!hers +ecause it was +ased on reason rather than religious disco"er&, or dogma. 0eists +elie"ed thoroughl& that there was a higher !ower, +ut not like the idea of a higher !ower that was +elie"ed +& 6hristians. 2ouis 0u!re, descri+ed 0eism as 鍍 he result of a filtering !rocess that had strained off all historical and dogmatic data from 6hristian theolog& and retained onl& that minimum which, +& the eighteenth: centur& standards, reason demands0u!re states.. The link +etween the +irth of 0eism and the American Enlightenment was the +ook 典 he Age of eason written +& Thomas 3aine. 0eism was a huge influence on the intellectuals that em+raced The Enlightenment, and man& of Americas founding fathers. (ecause of the creation of the 'irst Amendment that states 鼎 ongress shall make no law res!ecting an esta+lishment of religion, or !rohi+iting the free e5ercise thereof ... the se!aration of
church and state was determined to +e legal. The term 鉄 e!aration of church and stateis traced +ack to a letter that Thomas 1efferson wrote to 0an+ur& (a!tists, a religious societ&. The letter, in the most sim!lest terms, stated that there will +e no law made stating that man has to remain faithful to religion, nor can there +e a law made stating that the use of religion is !rohi+ited. 釘 elie"ing with &ou that religion is a matter which lies solel& +etween man and his god,is what Thomas 1efferson wrote in the +eginning of his letter. Throughout the rest of his letter, Thomas 1efferson stated that +uilding a 努 allof se!aration +etween the 6hurch and the State would +e fair and accommodating to the American citi*ens. The Scientific e"olution , which started in the #<;;-s and #=;;-s, hel!ed sha!e the Enlightenment greatl&. .ith man& scientific theories from renown !hiloso!hers and mathematicians like >icolaus 6o!ernicus, Galileo Galilei, Edmond 4alle&, Isaac >ewton and 1ohannes Ke!ler, there was much theor& and information to +e used during the Age of Enlightenment. Using the integration of alge+raic thinking, ac,uired o"er !re"ious centuries, and geometric thinking which had dominated the .estern mathematics and !hiloso!h&, created a scientific and mathematical re"olution (.alsh). 0uring the time of The Enlightenment, the Solar S&stem was disco"ered using accurate calculations of or+its, such as 4alle&-s 6omet, the disco"er& of the "er& fist !lanet +& .illiam 4erschel, and the correct calculation of the mass of the Sun using Isaac >ewtons theor& on the gra"itation of the uni"erse. >ot onl& did the disco"er& of the Solar S&stem +ring a huge amount of e5citement and a new "iew of the world to !eo!le, +ut it also +rought a+out the desire to learn more a+out scientific !hiloso!h&. Along with this outstanding disco"er&, there were man& more. There was the disco"er& of the microsco!e, which also lead to the disco"er& of +acteria and white +lood cells, the disco"er& of electricit&, ad"ancements in medicine, and a countless amount of other disco"eries !ertaining to the
Uni"erse. /ne of the easiest wa&s that colonial America !artici!ated in the scientific mo"ement was e5!loring the colonies. 0uring "o&ages through the colonies, 9ournals would +e ke!t, taking note of e"er& unknown animal or !lant life that was not !re"iousl& known in Euro!e. Americans would then send their 9ournals to Euro!e where the& could +e studied, and new s!ecies could +e documented and announced. Though the u!+ringing of science in America caused much ske!ticism in the churches, making these disco"eries was crucial to the ad"ancements of the countr& itself. The Enlightenment was a mo"ement that su!!orted using 塗 uman reasoningrather than using religion to sol"e !ro+lems. This mo"ement challenged man& as!ects in life including go"ernment, !olitics, religion, science and intellect. .ithout The Enlightenment as the +asis of the United states of America, it would +e much different. The Enlightenment ga"e im!ortant !romises of human and natural rights, e5!ressions of freedom and the rights of citi*ens to ha"e free choice and !ractice religious freedom, are all "ital as!ects in America still (Smith). 3hiloso!hers of the Enlightenment !ut forth theories a+out life, li+ert&, and indi"idual reasoning that +ecame the influences for the most im!ortant documents in America, the 0eclaration of Inde!endence and the United States 6onstitution.
.orks 6ited Author Unknown. 0eism. ?;;). #? 0ec ?;#;. @htt!8AAdictionar&.reference.comA+rowseA0eismB (rinkle&, Alan. American 4istor&, A Sur"e& (ostonA>ew CorkASan 'rancisco 4igher EducationA7cGraw 4ill, ?;#;. )$
Kant, Immanuel. EnlightenmentDisDtheDli+erationDofDmanDfromDhis.E !olumbia World of "uotations. 6olum+ia Uni"ersit& 3ress, #))=. #? 0ec. ?;#; @htt!8AAdictionar&.reference.comA+rowseAtheFenlightenmentB 7cKinne&, (rennan. eligion. ?;#;. #? 0ec ?;#;. @htt!8AAwww.associatedcontent.comAarticleA#?%$?G<B Smith, >icole. Enlightenment Ideals. ?;#;. #? 0ec ?;#;. @htt!8AAwww.articlem&riad.comAenlightenmentDamerica.htmB .ales, 1imm&. American Enlightenment. ?;#;. #? 0ec ?;#;. @htt!8AAen.wiki!edia.orgAwikiAAmericanDEnlightenmentB .alsh, Thomas. >ew world Enc&clo!edia . ?;;%. #? 0ec ?;#;. @htt!8AAwww.newworldenc&clo!edia.orgAentr&AAgeDofDEnlightenmentB
im!lementation of the 0eclaration sought to guarantee !ersonal freedom to all American citi*ens +& gi"ing them the right to ha"e their own stance on the American go"ernment, and !resenting them with the rights of 鏑 ife, 2i+ert& and the 3ursuit of 4a!!iness .illiam .ollaston, the author of the +ook The religion of ature Delineated, e5!lains where the term 鍍 he 3ursuit of 4a!!inessstems from. 的 t is the truest definition of natural religion,he sa&s, 殿 s +eing The pursuit of happiness +& the !ractice of reason and truth. 2ater, as America mo"ed closer to the creation of the 6onstitution, !hiloso!hers of The Enlightenment were often referred to while creating its draft. 3olitical leaders would refer to (aron de 7ontes,uieu, a 'rench !hiloso!her, whom saw two t&!es of go"ernmental !ower e5isting8 the so"ereign and the administrati"e (.ales). 4e stated that within the administrati"e !owers were the e5ecuti"e, the legislati"e, and the 9udicial +ranches. 3olitical leaders would also refer to 1ean:1ac,ues ousseau, a Swiss:+orn !hiloso!her, whom argued that the !ower to create the laws should +e left in the hands of the citi*ens. The ideals of The Enlightenment gi"en to the United States !olitical leaders +& man& !hiloso!hers contri+uted to a num+er of the im!ortant as!ects in the final draft of the 6onstitution. The United States 6onstitution, in summar&, set u! a go"ernment of re!resentati"es to 電 o the will of the !eo!le and was no dou+t the result of these !hiloso!hers ideas. The use of checks and +alances, the se!aration of !owers, the idea that the go"ernments !ower comes from the !eo!le, and the idea that !eo!le ha"e natural rights to life, li+ert& and !ro!ert&, all came from the influence of The Enlightenment. Another wa& that the Enlightenment hel!ed to sha!e the American colonies was in terms of religion. The 'irst Great awakening, in the #$;;-s, !roduced a large num+er of religious theories and ideas. 4owe"er, these theories and ideas did not full& +egin to show in the American colonies until the Second Great Awakening that America e5!erienced. 迭 eligion could not +e tied
into the American wa& of life or the American re!u+lic itself +ecause of the first amendment and the idea that there is a se!aration +etween 6hurch and State in America, thus lea"ing religion more of an afterthought for man&(7cKinne&). .ith the lack of traditional religious !ractices in the colonies, the idea of using rational thought and some as!ects of religion was more !re"alent. /ne religion that was +orn due to the Age of the Enlightenment was ational Su!ernaturalism. Among these ational Su!ernaturalists were .illiam 6hillingworth, 1ohn Tillotson, and most recogni*a+l&, 1ohn 2ocke. These rational su!ernaturalists +elie"ed that 途 e"elation ma& +e a+o"e reason,(.alsh). These +elie"ers also stood +& the idea that though there are 杜 iracleswritten in the (i+le, reason has the last word in almost e"er& situation. Though ational Su!ernaturalism seems "er& e5treme and com!le5, 0eism was more radical and more largel& !racticed. 0eism, the +elief that God has created the uni"erse +ut remains a!art from it and !ermits his creation to administer itself through natural laws (dictionar&.com), +ecame a "er& !o!ular +elief in America during the time of The Enlightenment. 0eism was !o!ular among the !hiloso!hers +ecause it was +ased on reason rather than religious disco"er&, or dogma. 0eists +elie"ed thoroughl& that there was a higher !ower, +ut not like the idea of a higher !ower that was +elie"ed +& 6hristians. 2ouis 0u!re, descri+ed 0eism as 鍍 he result of a filtering !rocess that had strained off all historical and dogmatic data from 6hristian theolog& and retained onl& that minimum which, +& the eighteenth: centur& standards, reason demands0u!re states.. The link +etween the +irth of 0eism and the American Enlightenment was the +ook 典 he Age of eason written +& Thomas 3aine. 0eism was a huge influence on the intellectuals that em+raced The Enlightenment, and man& of Americas founding fathers. (ecause of the creation of the 'irst Amendment that states 鼎 ongress shall make no law res!ecting an esta+lishment of religion, or !rohi+iting the free e5ercise thereof ... the se!aration of
church and state was determined to +e legal. The term 鉄 e!aration of church and stateis traced +ack to a letter that Thomas 1efferson wrote to 0an+ur& (a!tists, a religious societ&. The letter, in the most sim!lest terms, stated that there will +e no law made stating that man has to remain faithful to religion, nor can there +e a law made stating that the use of religion is !rohi+ited. 釘 elie"ing with &ou that religion is a matter which lies solel& +etween man and his god,is what Thomas 1efferson wrote in the +eginning of his letter. Throughout the rest of his letter, Thomas 1efferson stated that +uilding a 努 allof se!aration +etween the 6hurch and the State would +e fair and accommodating to the American citi*ens. The Scientific e"olution , which started in the #<;;-s and #=;;-s, hel!ed sha!e the Enlightenment greatl&. .ith man& scientific theories from renown !hiloso!hers and mathematicians like >icolaus 6o!ernicus, Galileo Galilei, Edmond 4alle&, Isaac >ewton and 1ohannes Ke!ler, there was much theor& and information to +e used during the Age of Enlightenment. Using the integration of alge+raic thinking, ac,uired o"er !re"ious centuries, and geometric thinking which had dominated the .estern mathematics and !hiloso!h&, created a scientific and mathematical re"olution (.alsh). 0uring the time of The Enlightenment, the Solar S&stem was disco"ered using accurate calculations of or+its, such as 4alle&-s 6omet, the disco"er& of the "er& fist !lanet +& .illiam 4erschel, and the correct calculation of the mass of the Sun using Isaac >ewtons theor& on the gra"itation of the uni"erse. >ot onl& did the disco"er& of the Solar S&stem +ring a huge amount of e5citement and a new "iew of the world to !eo!le, +ut it also +rought a+out the desire to learn more a+out scientific !hiloso!h&. Along with this outstanding disco"er&, there were man& more. There was the disco"er& of the microsco!e, which also lead to the disco"er& of +acteria and white +lood cells, the disco"er& of electricit&, ad"ancements in medicine, and a countless amount of other disco"eries !ertaining to the
Uni"erse. /ne of the easiest wa&s that colonial America !artici!ated in the scientific mo"ement was e5!loring the colonies. 0uring "o&ages through the colonies, 9ournals would +e ke!t, taking note of e"er& unknown animal or !lant life that was not !re"iousl& known in Euro!e. Americans would then send their 9ournals to Euro!e where the& could +e studied, and new s!ecies could +e documented and announced. Though the u!+ringing of science in America caused much ske!ticism in the churches, making these disco"eries was crucial to the ad"ancements of the countr& itself. The Enlightenment was a mo"ement that su!!orted using 塗 uman reasoningrather than using religion to sol"e !ro+lems. This mo"ement challenged man& as!ects in life including go"ernment, !olitics, religion, science and intellect. .ithout The Enlightenment as the +asis of the United states of America, it would +e much different. The Enlightenment ga"e im!ortant !romises of human and natural rights, e5!ressions of freedom and the rights of citi*ens to ha"e free choice and !ractice religious freedom, are all "ital as!ects in America still (Smith). 3hiloso!hers of the Enlightenment !ut forth theories a+out life, li+ert&, and indi"idual reasoning that +ecame the influences for the most im!ortant documents in America, the 0eclaration of Inde!endence and the United States 6onstitution.
.orks 6ited Author Unknown. 0eism. ?;;). #? 0ec ?;#;. @htt!8AAdictionar&.reference.comA+rowseA0eismB (rinkle&, Alan. American 4istor&, A Sur"e& (ostonA>ew CorkASan 'rancisco 4igher EducationA7cGraw 4ill, ?;#;. )$
Kant, Immanuel. EnlightenmentDisDtheDli+erationDofDmanDfromDhis.E !olumbia World of "uotations. 6olum+ia Uni"ersit& 3ress, #))=. #? 0ec. ?;#; @htt!8AAdictionar&.reference.comA+rowseAtheFenlightenmentB 7cKinne&, (rennan. eligion. ?;#;. #? 0ec ?;#;. @htt!8AAwww.associatedcontent.comAarticleA#?%$?G<B Smith, >icole. Enlightenment Ideals. ?;#;. #? 0ec ?;#;. @htt!8AAwww.articlem&riad.comAenlightenmentDamerica.htmB .ales, 1imm&. American Enlightenment. ?;#;. #? 0ec ?;#;. @htt!8AAen.wiki!edia.orgAwikiAAmericanDEnlightenmentB .alsh, Thomas. >ew world Enc&clo!edia . ?;;%. #? 0ec ?;#;. @htt!8AAwww.newworldenc&clo!edia.orgAentr&AAgeDofDEnlightenmentB
