The Age of Reason

1. Ben Franklin The Age of Reason Patrick Henry 1750-1800 Thomas Paine Thomas Jefferson

2. The Age of Reason AKA… • The Enlightenment • The Augustan Age • The Neoclassical Period

3. Topics of the Age of Reason Science Government Ethics How are these subjects like the subjects of The Age of Faith? How are they different from the subjects of the Age of Faith?

4. Literary Forms of the Age of Reason • Biographies/Autobiographies • Government Documents • Newspapers/Pamphlets • A little poetry • Speeches • No Fiction • The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin • The Declaration of Independence • Common Sense/ The Crisis • Philip Freneau • Speech at the Virginia Convention

5. Rhetoric • using language effectively to please or persuade • Situation • Purpose • Audience • Method • Ethos • Pathos • Logos • Appeals based upon perceived reputation. • Appeals based upon emotions. • Appeals based upon logic.

6. Authors we will study Benjamin Franklin Thomas Paine Patrick Henry Thomas Jefferson

7. Benjamin Franklin • Born January 17, 1706 in Boston, MA • Died April 17, 1790 in Philadelphia • Franklin was the tenth of seventeen children and the youngest boy. • Attended school for only two years. • By the age of ten, began working for his father.

8. Work Experience • At 13, began working for his brother who was a printer. • Wrote essays that were published anonymously in his brother’s newspaper. • Took over newspaper while his brother was in jail for slander, or libel. • Ten years later he began his own printing shop.

9. Facts • Benjamin Franklin was the embodiment of the American Dream-came from poverty to achieve fame and fortune. • America’s first millionaire • He was an inventor, scientist, statesman, printer, philosopher, diplomat, and writer. • He invented bifocals, the Franklin stove, the rocking chair, the lightning rod, the odometer. • He established the first public library, the first fire company, and the first fire insurance company.

10. Poor Richard’s Almanack • Poor Richard’s Almanack sold 10 thousand copies • Contained many aphorisms: Short pointed statements that express a wide or clever observation about the human experience. • “Never confuse motion with action.”

11. Thomas Paine • Born in England in 1736 • After meeting Benjamin Franklin in London, he moved to America. • From August 1776-January 1777 he was a soldier in Washington’s army. • Wrote The Crisis, Number 1 while at the front. • The Crisis, Number 1 is the first of a set of sixteen essays

12. The Crisis boosted the morale of soldiers. • At the time of its writing the American colonies were losing the war with Britain. • Also wrote the pamphlet Common Sense • Left America after the revolution and went to France • Wrote The Rights of Man • Made a citizen of France

13. Voted against the execution of Louis XVI • Almost guillotined because officials in Washington would not claim him as an American citizen. • After nearly a year, he escaped from prison because the door was left open • Came back to America in 1802.

14. Despite his help during the American Revolution, he had all but been forgotten in America. • Died in poverty and obscurity in New York in 1809. • Ten years after his death his remains were exhumed with the intention that they would be reburied in England • Great Britain (England) refused the burial and his remains were lost

15. Patrick Henry • Born 1736 • Died 1799 • Educated by his father (including reading Latin). Studied law on his own.

16. Henry was a lawyer and a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses • First governor of Virginia under the new constitution • Five-term governor of Virginia • Henry was also a well know orator (speaker)

17. “Speech to the Second Virginia Convention” • “Speech” was delivered in 1775 • Patrick Henry urged his fellow Virginians to arm in self-defense, closing his appeal with the immortal words: "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death."

18. He was dissatisfied with the federal constitution and opposed its ratification in 1788. • He felt that it gave the general government too much power.

19. Thomas Jefferson • Wrote The Declaration of Independence, the most important American document of the 18th Century in 1776. • Born in 1743 in Virginia • Was the 3rd of 10 children • During his youth, studied for 15 hours a day • Had a great love for music, especially the violin

20. Served as the 3rd president of the US for two terms • Believed that all men are created equal • Jefferson was a lawyer before entering politics • Created separation of church and state

21. Believed that slavery was a war on humanity; we are all born free in nature • Designed the University of Virginia and his own personal residence Monticello. • Died on July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence (the same day as John Adams).