Religious Enlightenment

The Enlightenment had a major impact on all thinking during the mid 1700's. One major example of this change of thought is religion. Many wealthier colonists, or those that could read and keep up with changes of the time, became deists. A Deist was someone who believes in God but that he is more of a spectator than a director. They believe he created the world but that the laws of nature governed men and not God himself.

It is no suprise then that Benjamin Franklin, being one of the leading thinkers of his time, was a Deist. Being a Deist as he was Benjamin Franklin took it upon himself to advance knowledge. Founding the American Philosophical Society and inventing the lightning rod and bifocal eyeglasses are only a few of his great contributions and ideas that we still use today. Franklin believed in God but believed it was up to man to take care of ourselves.

The Controversial Great Awakening

While the Enlightenment appealed to many scholarly colonists, the Great Awakening excited many. Having to deal with many political and economical conflicts, some congregations lost their enthusiasm for their religion. Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield helped start something that changed the settlers. While Edwards read his sermon, Whitefield decided to use his background in theater to lead intensely emotional revivals. Listeners were captivated by his dramatic sermons and became known as the "New Lights". Don't you agree that a dramatic performance far succeeds a person reading a piece of paper in most situations?

Word spread of this Great Awakening, but not everyone agreed with the new Pietistic movement. Charles Chauncy was one of them. He spoke out against women being allowed to speak in public saying that it is blasphemous. The feminizing of the churches drove many men out. In turn they created their own semi-secret societies. The social tensions and frustrations that started the Great Awakening brought a number of other conflicts among colonists. Although, there were some positive things like Princeton, Brown, Rutgers and other colleges that came about during this time.

Can you relate this to your life or think of an event recently that has opposing sides, but good and bad came out of it?

Enlightenment and the Franklins

The enlightenment was a period marked by logical thought and reason. John Locke advocated a need for majority rulings and denying monarchies that seek complete power. His ideas allowed the realization that monarchs and kings were not given political power by god. This type of reason stimulated American thought and led to a changed viewpoint of life in the colonies. This era of enlightenment is ultimately one of the key periods in the years leading up to the Revolution. While Americans were becoming increasingly irritable with British control through unjust taxation and troop presence, Benjamin and William Franklin were trying to argue exclusive proprietary control as the main fault.

Every trip to England taken by Benjamin was one of comfort and a feeling of belonging. Both William and Benjamin felt a very real love for their mother country and extended their stays in London, along with having desires to establish permanent residence. They seemed to share ideals through the 1750's and 60's, in that the king and parliament had the interests of the colonies at heart. They both shared equally negative outlooks on proprietary strength in the colonies. Franklin went back to London in 1764 and eventually argued the removal of the Stamp Act. Both father and son saw this as a sign that England had colonial interest in mind, but their trying times were yet to begin.

The Role of Women in New England

Chapter four of the text describes the Puritans and their yeoman society in New England. Although this society committed to family independence they gave their women very few rights and privileges, and always put them under men or their husbands. The role for these puritan and many other women in New England was simply to help and be dutiful to their husbands, they were called “helpmeets” for this purpose. Their duties included knitting and making shirts and gowns for the family, making candles and soap, churning milk into butter, cooking and many other household chores. Another major task given to women at this time was simply bearing children. In their lifetime most women gave birth to and took care of six to seven children.

Not only were women assigned to only certain tasks, but they were considered beneath men. They were even advised that if they were more intelligent or of higher social status than their husbands, this did not matter, the husband was still the head of the household. Even in court, women were prosecuted for fornication while very few men were. Women weren’t even given time for any kind of religious activity because of their domestic chores. It’s interesting though that even though they were given very subordinate roles, and were put below men, they were considered “exemplary or notable” contributors to the community and highly valued.