The Age of Reason: Tinkerers and Experimenters Also known as Rationalism and on Galileo tests as Colonialism

Quick Review! What was the first literary period in American literature? Puritanism (our first “ism”) What was central to everything the Puritans wrote? God! What type of literature did the Puritans write (for the most part)? Histories, diaries, narratives (with the exception of Anne Bradstreet’s poetry) What years in American history did Puritanism cover? 1620-1700

What do you think might have brought an end to Puritanism? Yes! You’ve got it! The craziness of the trials brought about the end of Puritanism.

What came after the Salem Witch Trials? By the end of the 17th century (1600s), new ideas began to present a challenge to the Puritans’ unshakable faith. This period of “new ideas” is called The Age of Reason (or Enlightenment). (You’ve probably learned about this period in your history classes.) It began in Europe with the philosophers and scientists who called themselves RATIONALISTS.

Rationalism Rationalism is the 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. What is REASON?

More Rationalism Rationalists believed that God’s special gift to humanity was reason—the ability to think in an ordered, logical manner. Everyone, then, had the capacity to regulate and improve his or her own life. How is this different from what the Puritans believed?

Puritanism vs.Rationalism What Puritans Believed What rationalists believed Puritans saw God as actively and mysteriously involved in the workings of the universe. God controlled EVERYTHING! Rationalists believed that God created a perfect universe and gave humanity the gift of reason—He then stepped out of the way and left His creation to run on its own, like a clock.

Cotton Mather & the Smallpox Epidemic Rationalism in Action Cotton Mather & the Smallpox Epidemic

Cotton Mather What a hottie.

Supported the Salem Witch Trials Cotton Mather (1663-1728) Minister in Boston Supported the Salem Witch Trials

More Cotton Mather We saw Cotton Mather in the Witch Hunt video—he was the original “witch hunter” of the Salem Witch Trials. Arthur Miller based the character of Reverend Hale on Cotton Mather.

Cotton Mather believed that SIN caused disease. One last piece of info… Cotton Mather believed that SIN caused disease. Therefore, if you had a disease, it was God punishing you for being sinful.

Smallpox Plague Smallpox was brought to Massachusetts in April 1721 aboard a ship from the West Indies, causing a major outbreak of the disease.

William Bradford’s Description of Smallpox in Native Americans For want of bedding and linen and other helps…they fall into a lamentable condition as they lie on their hard mats, the pox breaking and mattering and running one into another, their skin cleaving by reason thereof to the mats they lie on. When they turn them, a whole side will flay off at once as it were, and they will be all of a gore blood, most fearful to behold. And then being very sore, what with cold and other distempers, they die like rotten sheep.

Back to Cotton Mather and the Smallpox Epidemic of 1721 Even though Cotton Mather believed sin caused disease, he was still interested in finding ways to cure it. He had read about a Turkish doctor using a new method of prevention called “inoculation”—and he started a public campaign to get people inoculated against smallpox.

Inoculation 300 people got inoculated; only six of them died. 6000 people contracted the disease; 850 died. According to Mather, evidence in favor of inoculation was conclusive. How might Mather’s efforts to get people inoculated be seen as contradictory to his Puritan belief that sin caused disease?

HBO’s John Adams

The Smallpox Controversy Illustrates the Bridge Between Puritanism and Rationalism Puritan thinking was moving away from a rigid and narrow interpretation of the Bible (such as we saw in Salem)—a devout Puritan, like Cotton Mather, could also be a practical scientist. Public thinking was moving toward a broader interpretation of the Bible that allowed people to use their reason to improve their lives—such as having themselves inoculated against disease. This one episode in history clearly illustrates this shift in thinking.

Age of Reason Literature Most of the literature written in the American Colonies during the Age of Reason was rooted in reality. This was an age of “pamphlets” which were intended to serve practical or political ends. 1776 “Common Sense” Pamphlet by Thomas Paine

Age of Reason Literature The masterpiece of the American Age of Reason is Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography. It uses the Puritan form of writing—personal narrative—but takes out the religion.

Legacies of the Puritans and Rationalists In what ways are the worldviews of the Puritans and rationalists around us today in America? Think especially of debates about government, social welfare, and self-improvement. Write down a few of your observations about Puritanism and Rationalism in American public life today. Give some examples.