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Chapter 4, Section 4The Spread of New Ideas
EQ: How did Enlightenment ideas impact the earliest parts of our
government?
Section Focus Question:
How did ideas about religion and government influence colonial life?
New ideas about religion and government strengthened democratic ideas among the colonist.
Public Education• Puritans were responsible for first public schools in
the colonies; Massachusetts. – Paid with public and private monies– All Puritans should receive an education
• No public schools in the south– Members of Gentry hired private teachers to come to
their homes, much like the ancient Greeks.– Poor in the south received no education.
• The first American colleges were founded mainly to educate men to become ministers.
Schools for minorities
• Dame schools were opened by women to teach girls and boys to read.
• Schools did not admit enslaved Africans.– Some Quaker and Anglican missionaries taught
slaves to read.
• After elementary school, some boys went to grammar school.
How did education differ for girls and boys?
Boys received more education than girls and studied a wider variety of subjects.
Roots of American Literature
• The first American literature was sermons and histories.
• America’s first published poet was Anne Bradstreet. Her poems described the joys and hardships of life in Puritan New England.
• Phyllis Wheatley was an enslaved African in Boston. Her first poem was published in the 1760s when she was about 14.
Roots of American Literature (cont)
• Benjamin Franklin started writing the Pennsylvania Gazette when he was 17.
• His most popular work, Poor Richard’s Almanac, was published yearly from 1733 to 1753.
• He was also a scientist, businessman, and diplomat.
How did Ben Franklin contribute to American literature?
He published a newspaper, an almanac, and a popular autobiography.
The First Great Awakening
What was it?
The First Great Awakening (there will be more) was a period of renewed religious ideals and fervor in the English Colonies.
• Characterized by heated sermons (fire and brimstone), often telling people to repent of their sins or go to hell.
Preachers
• Jonathan Edwards
• George Whitefield
Jonathan Edwards
• 1703-1758
• Interpreter of and apologist
for the Great Awakening
• Famous sermon: Sinners in
the Hands of an Angry God
13
George Whitefield
• 1714 - 1770• In 1738 made 1st of
7 visits to the America• “Great Itinerant”• Member of Wesley’s Oxford
“Holy Club”• Popular as G. Washington• Huge crowds: 30,000
Message
• Personal relationship with God
• Revival Meetings
• No clergy to channel prayers
• Emotional
• Mission to Native Americans
Change in religions
• The First Great Awakening had a major impact on the face of colonial culture;
– Church of England and Puritan churches populations decline
– Baptists and Methodist populations grew
AMERICAN RELIGION BECOMES MORE
DEMOCRATIC
Baptists
• In America since 17th century
• Baptists (Separate Congregationalists) in
New England (Connecticut) expands to
Separate Baptists in N. Carolina
• From 6,000 – 20,000 in 3 years, foundation of
Southern Baptists
How did the Great Awakening affect American society.
It reinforced democratic ideas by encouraging people to make their own decisions about religion and politics.
The Enlightenment
• Starting in the late 1600s, a group of Enlightenment thinkers believed that all problems could be solved by reason.
• They look for “natural laws” that governed politics, society, and economics.
• There are two key players of the Enlightenment whose ideas influence colonial leaders:
• John Locke and Baron de Montesquieu
John Locke • Came up with the idea of “Natural Rights”, meaning our rights as humans came from God, not from a King.
• Since they came from God, Man couldn’t take it away.
• Any single man must judge for himself whether circumstances warrant obedience or resistance to the commands of the civil magistrate; we are all qualified, entitled, and morally obliged to evaluate the conduct of our rulers.
- John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, 1689
Montesquieu
Montesquieu - The Spirit of the Laws 1748
- favored separation of powers
- this would prevent any one group from gaining too much power.
- checks / balances
- became the basis of government in the United States.
Enlightenment Thinkers’ Influence
• Locke and Montesquieu had a massive influence on several early framers of our government as a country: give me a few.
• Jefferson
• Washington
• Franklin
• Paine
New Core Values
• The general trend was clear: individualism, freedom and change replaced community, authority, and tradition as core values in Europe and Colonial America.
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