Revolutionary Period

Characteristics High regard for reasoning and scientific observation Strong belief in human progress Freedom from restrictive laws and government Little interest in religion or the hereafter Moderation and self-control in all things Stress on elegant, orate style

Types of Literature Political writings (used charged words, caused emotional response, rhetorical questions, restatement, repetition, parallel structure, epistles) AlmanacsSpeeches EssaysPoetry MagazinesNewspapers AutobiographiesAphorisms

Writers and Their Works Benjamin Franklin: Poor Richard’s Almanac, Autobiography, prose and poetry Phyllis Wheatley: Poetry Thomas Paine: Common Sense, The Rights of Man, The American Crisis, The Age of Reason

Historical Events Benjamin Franklin’s kite experiment Colonist resist new Stamp Act Thomas Jefferson writes the Declaration of Independence Revolutionary War George Washington becomes first president

Rationalism 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. Rationalists believed that God’s special gift to man was reason – the ability to think in an ordered manner.

Deism Deists believed that: The universe was orderly and good Stressed humanity’s goodness (unlike Puritans) The perfectibility of every human through the use of reason God’s objective was the happiness of all creatures The best form of worship was to due good to others

Themes Self-Made Americans Independence New American Identity