REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD

 1760s: Attitude Change  King George III  Age of Reason (Enlightenment)  Logic over religion  Science vs God  Shift: People are inherently good HISTORICAL SETTING

 Stamp Act: tax on daily bought products  Colonists boycotted these products  Townshend Acts: variety of laws passed to raise money to pay the governors and judges  Colonists refused to pay  England sent troops to America  Boston Massacre  Tea Act: tax on tea  Colonists dumped tea into the harbor (Boston Tea Party)  First Continental Congress TOWARD A CLASH OF ARMS

 “Shot heard around the world”: Lexington and Concord  George Washington  The New Nation  Feared becoming like England  Fought for rights to be protected under the law THE WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN

 Writing increased dramatically  50 newspapers, 40 magazines, almanacs  Literature spoke out against British Rule  Literature discussed political changes  No short stories, novels, or dramas LITERATURE IN A TIME OF CRISIS

 Theatres were built  New colleges were formed  Painting became popular  Patriotic hymns were created THE CULTURAL SCENE

  Printer and writer  Poor Richard’s Almanac:  Franklin created a persona for the author (Richard Saunders)  Popularity increased  Combination of practical information and moral messages  Scientist: lightning rod, bifocals, new type of stove  Confirmed the laws of electricity  Politics  Enlisted French support in the Revolutionary War  Negotiated peace Treaty  Helped draft parts of The Constitution  The Autobiography  Reviews his achievements  Analyzes his character BEN FRANKLIN

  American = Melting Pot  Born to a wealthy French aristocratic family  Moved to Canada to serve in the French Army  Traveled around the colonies (land surveyor) before settling in New York  Letters From an American Farmer published during his time in Europe  Confirmed the British evils and the promises of the New World  Caused several people to move to America  Returned to America to find destruction  Returned to Paris for the French Revolutionary War  Epistles: formal composition written to a group of people in the form of a letter; tone is friendly and gets audience to believe your opinion MICHEL-GUILLAUME JEAN DE CREVECOUER

  Born in England  Met Franklin  Effective political writer  Common Sense: pamphlet telling how the King was wronging the colonists and encouraged the fight for independence  Uplifted soldiers’ spirits  Audience = average man THOMAS PAINE