America's Emerging Culture.

                     America’s Emerging Culture.

The Enlightenment and the American Colonies.

         In the 1400s the Renaissance had change the Europeans’ outlook on the world. Similarly, in late 1600s, new ways of thinking changed ideas about government and human rights. This gave rise to a new movement called the Enlightenment. This period is also called the Age of Reason.

• The scientific Revolution.

In the 1500s and 1600s, a revolution in sciences helped lay the foundation for the Enlightenment. This consisted in looking for naturals laws that governed the universe. For example, Sir Isaac Newton, showed certain physical forces, such as the force of gravity, which seemed to operate everywhere in the universe.

• The Enlightenment in Europe.

Thinkers in Europe, admired this new approach to science. They thought that logic and reason could also be used to improve society, law, and government. In England, the philosopher John Locke developed a theory that government should protect citizens’ natural rights, which included life, liberty and property. He also wrote that government and the people were bound by a social contract. In France, social critics admired English rights and freedoms. English laws limited the power of the ruler, while in France still had an absolute monarchy. To limit it, Baron de Montesquieu suggested that the powers of government be divided. This would prevent any person from gaining too much power. Many Enlightenment thinkers were deists, who believed in God but not in traditional Christian teachings. Enlightenment philosophers such as Jean Jacques Rousseau wanted to apply their ideas to education, which they believed would improve society. Others sought reforms in criminal justice and in conditions for the poor.

• The Enlightenment in America.

The ideas of the Enlightenment began in the educated upper classes of Europe but soon spread beyond the European continent. Locke in particular was widely read in the American colonies. His ideas influenced Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, among others. Other early American leaders used Enlightenment ideas when they drafted the United States Constitution. Enlightenment thinkers questioned common beliefs and deep-rooted superstitions. Benjamin Franklin, for example, did many experiments with electricity. In the most famous experiment, he flew a kite in a thunderstorm to prove that lightening was a form of electricity. These experiments made him famous as a scientist, but they were controversial, too. Some people still did not believe that lightning was a form of electricity.

The Great Awakening.

Enlightenment ideas also led some people in the colonies to question long-accepted religious beliefs. They looked for rational, scientific explanations for how the universe worked. At the time, many Christian denominations taught that human beings were essentially wicked. Most Enlightenment, however, believed humankind was essentially good, or at least capable of learning to be good.

• Changes in religious attitudes.

Such Enlightenment ideas disturbed the traditional religious establishment. Strict groups, such as the Puritans, were dismayed by the growing tolerance for other beliefs. But the Puritans themselves were already worried about the decline of religious fervour in their communities. In addition, many colonies were becoming prosperous from business and trade. Some religious leaders worried that material values and concern for making money had displaced spiritual values.

• A revival of religion.

That movement was a religious revival in the colonies known as the Great Awakening. Beginning in New England and New Jersey in the 1720s and the 1730s, the great awakening eventually swept through all the colonies. One of its leader was the Puritan minister Jonatahn Edwards. Emphasizing the individual’s personal relationship with God, he appealed to his listener’s fears and emotions. Like so many other American thinkers of the time, Edwards was influenced by philosophers such as Locke and Newton. Like them, Edwards valued rational thoughts. In 1739 a British Methodist minister, George Whitefield, travelled to America. As he had done in England, he held open-air meetings that were intended to move audiences to feel the religious spirit. Unlike Edwards, he did not frighten his audiences, but his strong voice moved people to cry and confess their sins. The Great Awakening led to an increase in church membership in the 1700s. It also resulted in the growth of the new protestant denominations in America. Puritan beliefs formed the basis of the Congregational Church. By mid-1700s, the evangelistic movements of the Great Awakening helped the Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches to become well established. The Great Awakening led to creation of several respected centers of learning, including Priceton, Brown, and Rutgers colleges, as well as Dartmouth College.

 The colonies become more diverses.

The first colonists in New England, Virgins, and the Carolinas came primarily from England. Other colonies, especially New York and Pennsylvania, attracted people from more diverse backgrounds.

• Non-English colonists.

In the early 1700s, large numbers of Scots-Irish emigrated to the colonies. They settled mainly in the middle colonies. Mostly strict Presbyterians, they had little love for the English government. They were always ready to fight for their political rights. Religious unrest in Europe and religious tolerance in the colonies attracted Germans, French Huguenots and Jews to America. They established weaving mills, ironworks and glassworks. French colonists also brought their craft and scientist skills to the colonies.

Life in colonial America.

• Colonial cities.

Colonial cities were lively, exciting places. Some had paved with cobblestones and sidewalks lit by oil lamps. Many colonial cities had libraries, bookshops and impressive public buildings. City dwellers could go to plays or concerts. They shopped in markets for country produce and luxury goods from Europe. Schools taught mucis, dancing, drawing, and painting as well as more traditional academic subjects.

• Colonial communication.

Printers in the colonies were also publishers. They printed and distributed

newspapers, books and political announcements. Communications were slow between the colonies and with England. Letters to England went by ship, taking many weeks. Influential newspapers were published in Boston, New York and Philadelphia. Printing was so expensive, however, that only the most pertinent information was included in their pages. This usually meant that classified advertisements and reports of crop prices filled most columns of colonial newspapers.

• African American culture.

In spite of the difficulties of their lives, enslaves Africans created their own culture and society. They tried to build a strong family structure. But the realities of slavery split husbands, wives and children, who were often sold separately and sent away. Religion was a strength of the community. Many African Americans were Christians but also kept older African beliefs.