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The influence of enlightenment on American society
The enlightenment's impact on colonial north america
Enlightenment influence on America
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In 1607, the first English colony was founded at Jamestown, Virginia. The permanent settlement by John Smith created opportunities for more Englishmen to form colonies in North America, the upper North being the New England colonies. The New England colonies were continuously developing during the 1600s and 1700s. The religious beliefs and relationships of the colonies with the Native Americans remained the same, but they had shifted from a labor system of indentured servants to slavery and instigated ideas of individualism. The results of the changes and consistent aspects of colonial life created an identity of American equality.
The religious beliefs of the colonists had some aspects of it that stayed the same overtime while some changed. Majority of the New England colonies were founded upon religion, and very much of that remained a part of society. In the 1700s there occurred a movement of religious revivals, the Great Awakening, which swept over the American colonies. It sparked more interest in religion and revived the faith some had begun to doubt. Public sermons were held to convert. George Whitefield was an English clergyman, and only one of the many, known for his charismatic speeches powerful enough to convert many into religion. The movement united the colonists, advocated for greater
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One movement that sparked such ideas was the Enlightenment, otherwise known as the “Age of Reason”. While the Enlightenment gave rise to the arts and sciences, it also greatly affected the religious and political areas of American colonial life. Previously, the New England colonists had little doubt over the authority the church had over them, but as the Enlightenment also challenged that authority just like the Great Awakening, the colonists realized they had natural and individual rights to choose one’s
Between 1491 and 1754, the New England, middle, Chesapeake, and southern colonies developed in a way such that they must be viewed as four distinct societies with interlacing interactions and beliefs. These different societies were shaped by the different labor systems and economic characteristics, varying groups of religious founders, and response to salutary neglect and British taxation.
In the 17th century, the British colonies still identified themselves as European, but as the colonies expanded and grew more populous, they developed differing geographic, social, and economic systems. This difference between New England, and Chesapeake, is caused by the motivations for settlement between the two regions. While the New England colonies were mainly settled for religious motivations, most notably by the Puritans, the Chesapeake colonies were settled for economic prosperity. Also, while the Chesapeake colonies were mainly settled by individual young men seeking a profit, the New England colonies were settled by families hoping to settle and expand.
The three colonial regions blossomed quite differently in terms of economy. English colonists first settled in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. Failing to find gold, however, people in the southern colonies grew tobacco and rice as marketable commodities. Since tobacco plantation was labor-intensive, a large number of the population was indentured servants and black slaves. Because of the high mortality rate and unbalanced sex ratio, headright system was created in order to attract more settlers. In New England, due to the poor soil condition, people mainly relied on fishing, and lumber. Also, the Navigation Acts stimulated shipbuilding industry. The Middle colonies were based on growing grains and trading with European nations as well as other colonies.
Even with this, there were still religious arguments." No one doubts that the Americans were basically very religious people." This is how William G. McLoughlin, starts off his argument saying that America basically wanted to be a nation of Christians, McLoughlin also believes that a religious movement like the Great Awakening could not avoid having assumptions that worry the right and wrong ways in which power and authority can be used in a certain way. As he starts to get into his argument, he says after understanding the anthropological definition of religion, it will become a lot more easier for one to understand why the Great Awakening was so important and why it had such an impact on the American Revolution. For example He describes certain things like how the town meetings had quarrelsome affairs and they frequently had become a part of affairs that had to be solved within the town or city, because the local judicial and political systems could not. This could have or maybe led to some corruption because of the British not helping to solve the problems of the English colonists and led to the English showing they were not capable of running such a place like their own colony by themselves. Afterward in his argument, McLoughlin writes" As the opinion (the great awakening) spread after 1742 throughout the colonies, many came to believe that Americans could not effectively fulfill this mission so long as they were tied to a corrupt, oppressive, and tyrannical monarch and Parliament in England " The general effect of this Great Awakening had the outcome that the colonies were able to develop a new kind of neocolonial unity. This could have also been part of the resistance to the laws and such if the British. Lastly, McLoughlin says that the revolution in a way can be described as the political revitalization of a people whose religious regeneration began in the Great Awakening.
Religion was the foundation of the early Colonial American Puritan writings. Many of the early settlements were comprised of men and women who fled Europe in the face of persecution to come to a new land and worship according to their own will. Their beliefs were stalwartly rooted in the fact that God should be involved with all facets of their lives and constantly worshiped. These Puritans writings focused on their religious foundations related to their exodus from Europe and religions role in their life on the new continent. Their literature helped to proselytize the message of God and focused on hard work and strict adherence to religious principles, thus avoiding eternal damnation. These main themes are evident in the writings of Jonathan Edwards, Cotton Mathers, and John Winthrop. This paper will explore the writings of these three men and how their religious views shaped their literary works, styles, and their historical and political views.
Religion in the New World exploded into the land with the colonization of thousands of immigrants. It played an important role in the development of thought in the West. Religion was one of the first concepts to spark the desires of people from other countries to emigrate to the new lands. While many religions blossomed on the American shores of the Atlantic, a basic structure held for most of them, being predominantly derived from Puritanism. Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement, showed the link the new settlers had to God when Sir Thomas Dale said the following in 1610:
In 1585 the English followed in the footsteps of the Spanish and traveled west to the new world for riches and fame, however the first successful colony in 1607. Once there they found a severe lack of gold and many hardships which threatened the colonies and as a result they were helped by the Native Americans to help, and they taught them how to survive. At first the colonies were very patriotic and proud to be British, but as time passed so did their patriotism and reliance on Britain. As their independence grew they started to disagree with the British ultimately many different variables induced the American Revolution, but they fall into three main categories social, political, and economic.
Many ideals coming out of the Great Awakening had a significant amount of influence on the political literature and rhetoric of the American Revolution. The Great Awakening was started as a resistance to the growing formality of churches in America (The Great Awakening.”). The Great Awakening is commonly known for the “emotional enthusiasm of its participants” when referring to the mass crowds and people fainting frequently from overwhelming emotions (“Lesson 1”). More importantly, the Great Awakening gave American people an identity and a unity the country never before had (“The Great Awakening.”). The Great Awakening encouraged a negative attitude against the British Crown while also creating a moral and religious framework justifying resistance.
In the early stages of North American colonization by the English, the colony of Jamestown, Virginia was founded in 1607 (Mailer Handout 1 (6)). Soon after the Massachusetts Bay Colony was founded in 1629 (Mailer Handout 2 (1)). These two colonies, although close in the time they were founded, have many differences in aspects of their lives and the way they were settled. The colonies have a different religious system, economic system, political system, and they have a different way of doing things; whether that be pertaining to making money, practicing religion, or electing governors. Along with the differences, there are also a sameness between these two colonies. Each colony has been derived from England and has been founded by companies
The English Settlement in the New World was largely the result of the Age of Exploration. The English started emigrated to the New World around the early 1600s; they settles in regions including the New England and the Chesapeake region and by the 18th century these two regions had developed their own society. These two regions had developed different political, economic and social system in their regions. The political differences were due to who governs the colony. The economic differences were due to the motives of the settlement. The social differences were due to the people who settled there, while the New England emigrated as a family, the Chesapeake emigrated with mostly male.
The New England Colonies are best known as the destination for Puritan religious reformers which included a colder environment with different animals and crops grown that that of the Chesapeake Colonies. New England Colonies were based off of a more family social circle as opposed to the Chesapeake colonies were indentured servants were imported as labor workers, as a result from families taking control of farms, a more natural population growth as developed in contrast the Chesapeake colonies had to repeatedly rely on indentured servants and slaves as labor workers, and lastly New England colonists grew crops mainly for consumption while the Chesapeake colonists grew cash crops used primarily for trade.
During the late 16th century and into the 17th century, European nations rapidly colonized the newly discovered Americas. England in particular sent out numerous groups to the eastern coast of North America to two regions. These two regions were known as the Chesapeake and the New England areas. Later, in the late 1700's, these two areas would bond to become one nation. Yet from the very beginnings, both had very separate and unique identities. These differences, though very numerous, spurred from one major factor: the very reason the settlers came to the New World. This affected the colonies in literally every way, including economically, socially, and politically.
From the year the first people found America continent, the British government became the ruler of America. The Parliament made the colonies conquered the Native American tribes. But later on, the British ignored what the colonies did for them, and started to cause troubles for the colonies. When it is at the point where the Parliament issued the acts of unaffordable taxes, with so much bad thing built up, the colonies united together and started to fight. After seven years of the American revolution, the society had experienced dramatic changes on people’s life.
The English had two main colonies in the new world, Jamestown and Plymouth. The first colony was Jamestown, established in Virginia in 1607. Jamestown was settled by Captain John Smith, and was named after King James I. Tobacco was the main export of Jamestown, and became the basis of the Jamestown economy, sending more than 50,000 lbs of the plan back to Europe by 1618 (textbook 46). Jamestown had a very rocky start, many colonists dying in the first few years of the settlement, and the settlers had many problems with natives. Shortly after the arrival of English colonists the Natives attacked them, and were finally forced back by a canon from the English. A very uneasy truce was finally settled between the natives, called the Powhatans, and the English (textbook 44-5). Economic growth and expanding their territories were the main priorities of the English in the Jamestown colonies.
The Enlightenment period, also known as The Age of Reason, was a period of social, religious, and political revolution throughout the 18th century which changed the thoughts of man during this “awakening” time. It was a liberation of ignorant thoughts, ideas, and actions that had broken away from the ignorant perception of how society was to be kept and obeyed thus giving little room for new ideas about the world. Puritan society found these new ideas of thought to be extremely radical in comparison to what they believed which was a belief of strong rational religion and morality. Enlightened society believed that the use of reason would be a catalyst of social change and had a demand of political representation thus resulting in a time in history where individualism was widely accepted amongst the new world. Puritan society believed strongly in myth, magic, and religious superstitions that was immensely used by the Puritans before democracy, capitalism, and the scientific revolution gave rise from the Enlightenment period.