Philosophies

Timeline for the Enlightenment Era 1700-1830** [|http://www.runet.edu/~wkovarik/envhist/3enlightenmen​t.html]
 * // __Historical Philosophies__ //

1 'The Enlightenment'
 What a change there was between 1785 and 1824! There has probably never been such an abrupt revolution in habits, ideas and beliefs in the two thousand years since we have known the history of the world. (Stendhal, //Racine and Shakespeare//, 1825; 1962 edn, p. 144) European culture underwent one of the most profound and far-reaching changes in its history. This occurred against a background of political and social turmoil and transformation equally unprecedented, marked by revolution, war and the beginnings of industrialisation. The period saw the interface of two fundamental cultural movements: Enlightenment and Romanticism. The transition from the first to the second has been described as ‘the greatest single shift in the consciousness of the West that has occurred’ (Berlin, 1999, p. 1), one that ‘cracked the backbone of European thought’ (Isaiah Berlin, quoted in Furst, 1979, p. 27), and it continues to impact on our ways of thinking in the twenty-first century.

The Enlightenment Era 1650-1800 []

Enlightenment Doctrines/ Philosiphies [] [] [|**http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=2090**]

Immanual Kant-The Critique of Pure Reason 1781 []

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If the Enlightenment was a movement which started among a tiny elite and slowly spread to make its influence felt throughout society, Romanticism was more widespread both in its origins and influence. No other intellectual/artistic movement has had comparable variety, reach, and staying power since the end of the Middle Ages. Beginning in Germany and England in the 1770s, by the 1820s it had swept through Europe, conquering at last even its most stubborn foe, the French. It traveled quickly to the Western Hemisphere, and in its musical form has triumphed around the globe, so that from London to Boston to Mexico City to Tokyo to Vladivostok to Oslo, the most popular orchestral music in the world is that of the romantic era. After almost a century of being attacked by the academic and professional world of Western formal concert music, the style has reasserted itself as neoromanticism in the concert halls. When John Williams created the sound of the future in //Star Wars,// it was the sound of 19th-century Romanticism--still the most popular style for epic film soundtracks. Beginning in the last decades of the 18th century, it transformed poetry, the novel, drama, painting, sculpture, all forms of concert music (especially opera), and ballet. It was deeply connected with the politics of the time, echoing people's fears, hopes, and aspirations. It was the voice of revolution at the beginning of the 19th century and the voice of the Establishment at the end of it. This last shift was the result of the triumph of the class which invented, fostered, and adopted as its own the romantic movement: the bourgeoisie. To understand why this should have been so, we need to look more closely at the nature of the style and its origins.
 * __ Moving from Enlightenment to Romanticism 1780-1830 __**

Overview of Romanticism [] Books [] []

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 * __ The Revolutionary War 1776-1781 __**

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__** 1776 Declaration of Independence **__ media type="youtube" key="--VMlvbkJbw" height="108" width="151"


 * __ 1787 Preamble and Constitution __**

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Pre-Civil War Era 1815-1860 an Overview [] Civil War Era 1850-1865 []

The era known as the Industrial Revolution was a period in which fundamental changes occurred in agriculture, textile and metal manufacture, transportation, economic policies and the social structure in England. This period is appropriately labeled “revolution,” for it thoroughly destroyed the old manner of doing things; yet the term is simultaneously inappropriate, for it connotes abrupt change. The changes that occurred during this period (1760-1850), in fact, occurred gradually. The year 1760 is generally accepted as the “eve” of the Industrial Revolution. In reality, this eve began more than two centuries before this date. The late 18th century and the early l9th century brought to fruition the ideas and discoveries of those who had long passed on, such as, Galileo, Bacon, Descartes and others. [] [] Books []
 * __ The Industrial Revolution 1820-1870 __**

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// **__ Political Philosophies __** // Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) [] []

Ever prescient, John Adams rightly predicted that Benjamin Franklin would forever occupy an elevated position in the American imagination. He was, after all, the man who risked life and limb to fly a kite in a lightning storm. (He was well insulated, it turns out, and in no danger of being electrocuted.) The eclectic inventor, scientist, author, and statesman, who was lionized at home and abroad, did not count [|John Adams] among his admirers.At the age of 81, Franklin became the president of the Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery and the Relief of Negroes Unlawfully Held in Bondage. The society, founded by Philadelphia Quakers was one of the first abolitionist organizations in the colonies

Thomas Paine (1737-1809) Thomas Paine Common Sense 1776 [] The Age of Reason Document [] Thomas Paine Video [] []



**Thomas Paine** (January 29, 1737 - June 8, 1809) is considered to be a "Founding Father" of the United States. As a pamphleteer, Paine had a significant impact upon the American Revolution. He is also notable for his advocacy of Deism and writings regarding the French Revolution. Thomas Paine used his powerful ability to present ideas common to his time in clear form, in contrast with highly philosophical approaches used by his colleagues. Common Sense convinced many Americans, including George Washington to seek redress in political independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Benjamin Rush had a great influence on this work, as well as its name. (Paine proposed the title Plain Truth). It was instrumental in bringing about the Declaration of Independence. Paine also has the distinction of being the man who proposed the name United States of America for the new nation. In prison, convinced he would soon be dead, Paine wrote Age of Reason, an assault on organized religion. A second part was written and published after his release from prison.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) []

This powerful advocate of liberty was born in 1743 in Albemarle County, Virginia, inheriting from his father, a planter and surveyor, some 5,000 acres of land, and from his mother, a Randolph, high social standing. He studied at the College of William and Mary, then read law. In 1772 he married Martha Wayles Skelton, a widow, and took her to live in his partly constructed mountaintop home, Monticello. In the Virginia House of Burgesses and the Continental Congress, he contributed his pen rather than his voice to the patriot cause. As the "silent member" of the Congress, Jefferson, at 33, drafted the Declaration of Independence. In years following he labored to make its words a reality in Virginia. Most notably, he wrote a bill establishing religious freedom, enacted in 1786. Sharp political conflict developed, and two separate parties, the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans, began to form. Jefferson gradually assumed leadership of the Republicans, who sympathized with the revolutionary cause in France. Attacking Federalist policies, he opposed a strong centralized Government and championed the rights of states.

Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) A Vindication of the Rights of Women 1792 []

Mary Wollstonecraft was born in 1759, and just five years before her death at age 38, she wrote //A Vindication of the Rights Of Women// which is one of the first pieces written arguing for women’s equality. Although not as famous as //A Vindication of the Rights of Women//, Mary Wollstonecraft also wrote //A Vindication of the Rights of Men// in addition to novels and other writings. Not only was Mary Wollstonecraft unconvensional for her times in her writings, but she also lived a very unconventional life. Most noteworthy was her relationship with Henry Imlay, to whom she was never married but she had a daughter with. She later married a philosopher, William Goodwin, with whom she had another daughter, the later famous author of //Frankenstein//, Mary Shelley.

Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) []



//** __ Religious Philosophies __ **// A Shift in Thinking about Religion []

A History of Religion during the American Revolution []

Paine on Deism []

Jefferson, The Deists [] [] [] []

Deism information and quiz. []

// **__ Educational Philosophies __** // History of Education []

Noah Webster (1758-1843) [] [] Webster was critical of the politics of self-aggrandizement. He clearly set himself with the founders who believed that if a man was dependent financially on someone, he could not serve the public good, but would only be concerned about his dependent relationship. It was only a man who had no economic interests and sought no economic advantage who could serve well.

Benjamin Rush (1745-1813) [] []

Rush also believed in creating a better system of schools on every level so that all children, girls as well as boys, could receive the benefits of a proper education that consisted of lower schools as well as colleges; his dream included a national university. It was this idealistic view of education that prompted Rush to envision a college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, then the edge of the frontier, as the first building block of this great system. Learning of the trustees' plan to expand the Carlisle Grammar School into an academy, Rush gained the confidence of one of them, Colonel [|John Montgomery], and proceeded to convince the other eight trustees that a college was the better idea. Rush succeeded in garnering support from [|John Dickinson], then president of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania; as a tribute to Dickinson's accomplishments (and donations), the college was named in honor of the great statesman. Rush served as one of the most influential trustees of the College from its founding until his death.

Samuel Knox and Benjamin Rush Journal Article on Education []

Abigal Adams (1767-1845) []

Abigail Adams was later known for advocating an education in the public schools for girls that was equal to that given to boys, she herself had no formal education. She was taught to read and write at home, and given access to the extensive libraries of her father and maternal grandfather, taking a special interest in philosophy, theology, Shakespeare, the classics, ancient history, government and law.

General Knowlege

Clothing of the Enlightenment [] Timeline with Primary Sources for the Enlightenment []