Lecture 2 Reason and Revolution Period.ppt

Reason and Revolution Period (1765 -1800) the 18th Century The Age of Enlightenment The Age of Reason I. Historical Background Enlightenment Movement: （启蒙运动） a movement supported by all progressive forces of the country which opposed themselves to the old colonial order and religious obscurantism. The representatives of the Enlightenment set themselves the task of disseminating knowledge among the people and advocating revolutionary ideas. I. Historical Background The 18th-century American enlightenment was a movement marked by an emphasis on rationality rather than tradition, scientific inquiry instead of unquestioning religious dogma, and representative government in place of monarchy. With Franklin as its spokesman, the 18th century America experienced an age of reason. Enlightenment thinkers and writers, such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine, were devoted to the ideals of justice, liberty, and equality as the natural rights of man. I. Historical Background 3) The colonists who would form a new nation were firm believers in the power of reason; they were ambitious, inquisitive, optimistic, practical, politically astute, and self-reliant. 4) Words had never been so useful and so important in human history. People wrote a lot of political writings. 5) The works were full of imitativeness and vague universality, so most Americans were painfully aware of their excessive dependence on English literary models. The search for a native literature became a national obsession. 1. Philip Freneau (1752-832) (菲利普·弗伦瑞） “Father of American Poetry” “Poet of American Revolution” “Pioneer of the New Romanticism” the most important poet in the 18th century first American poet to write about the Indians (The Indian Burying Ground”) Philip Freneau 菲利普·弗伦瑞(1752-832) 2. Thomas Paine 托马斯·潘恩（1737—1809） Common Sense《常识》 attacked British monarchy , was received as a justification for their cause of independence and as an encouragement to the painfully fighting people. A