UNIT 2 AMERICAN REVOLUTION

1492 Columbus discovered America UNIT 1

1620 Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock UNIT 1

1692 Salem Witchcraft Trials UNIT 1

UNIT A NATION IS BORN

 By 1750, there were 4 th and 5 th generation Americans of European descent living in Virginia and New England.

 These people were English subjects and, apparently, satisfied with that status. In fact, few gave much thought to independence.

 Between the mid-1760s and the mid-1770s, however, attitudes changed dramatically.

 King George imposed a number of regulations that threatened the liberties of the colonists.

 With each measure, the outrage in America grew, finally erupting into war.

THE AGE OF REASON  The 18 th century is often characterized as the Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason.

 The writers and thinkers of the Enlightenment valued reason over faith.  Unlike the Puritans, they had little interest in the hereafter, believing instead in the power of reason and science to further human progress.

 They spoke of a social contract that would form the basis of government.  The American statesmen of the Revolutionary Period were themselves figures of the Enlightenment.

 Men like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson, who not only expressed the ideas of the Age of Reason, but put them into practice.

 In contrast to the private, soul- searching of the Puritans, much of the literature produced during the Revolutionary period was public writing: newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, almanacs.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN UNIT 2

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN “THE FATHER OF OUR COUNTRY”  1706 – 1790  Age 16: apprenticed as a printer and a writer.

Satirized daily life and politics in Boston. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

SATIRE  A literary GENRE where shortcomings are held up to ridicule…

SATIRE  with the intent of shaming individuals, and society, into improvement.

SATIRE  Although meant to be funny, it’s greater purpose is constructive criticism, using wit as a weapon.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN  At 17, moved to Philadelphia opened a print shop and began writing “Poor Richard’s Almanac”…

 were popular books in colonial America. ALMANACS

 A mixture of seasonal weather forecasts, practical household hints, puzzles, and other amusements.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN  Franklin used a PSUEDONYM Because he wished to retain his ANONYMITY!!

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN  Franklin used APHORISMS, a brief and forceful saying expressing a general truth.

APHORISMS LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR; YET DON’T PULL DOWN YOUR HEDGE.