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Published byStanley Turner Modified over 9 years ago
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1750 ~ 1800
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Period Overview The age is balanced The slate is clean God is removed from the scene Polemical works abound
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Alternate Names for this Time Period The Age of Reason The Neoclassical Period The American Enlightenment
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Characteristics of the Period Social Self~control, Discipline, and Order “The State” is the proper instrument of progress Personal & Social “self- control:” Stop! Think! What could happen? Is this what you want?
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Period Social Virtues “Reason” is celebrated Benjamin Franklin’s “moral perfection” Belief in the ability to perfect individuals and society, itself Faith in Human Rationality Valid principles governing individuals, society, & nature
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The American Enlightenment The Belief in “Self~Knowledge” Free Inquiry The Scientific Method ~ The application of test & reason America: The New Athens or The New Rome
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American Societal Characteristics Pre~occupied with Worldly Values: Individual Rights Social Well~being Growth of Commerce Expression of Political Grievances
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American Social Philosophy John Locke’s philosophical Notion: Tabula Rosa America has a “Clean Slate” America’s concern: “Natural Rights of Man”
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America’s Divine Providence Deism Remote God Creates & Watches “Know then thyself, presume not God to scan, the proper study of mankind is man.” ~Alexander Pope
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Literary Period Characteristics & Influences Literary Works are “Polemical” (extremely argumentative) Patrick Henry Thomas Paine Thomas Jefferson John Brown Frederick Douglass Malcolm X Martin Luther King Jr.
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Literary Period Characteristics & Purposes Public & Political Writing Plain & Simple Language ~ not ornate or extravagant Audience~ Common Citizens Writing concerned with: Clear & Precise Commonsensical Ideas Mathematical Plainness (common sense) All Writing Non~fiction Polemical
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