Revolutionary and Age of Reason

REVOLUTIONARY AND AGE OF REASON

Definition of Revolutionary and Age of Reason

A revolutionary is a person who either actively

participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor or relating to a particular revolution, especially the War of American Independence.

The Age of Reason was an eighteenth-century movement which followed hard after the mysticism, religion, and superstition of the Middle Ages. The Age of Reason represented a genesis in the way man viewed himself, the pursuit of knowledge, and the universe. In this time period, man’s previously held concepts of conduct and thought could now be challenged verbally and in written form; fears of being labeled a heretic or being burned at the stake were done away with. This was the beginning of an open society where individuals were free to pursue individual happiness and liberty. Politically and socially, the imperial concepts of the medieval world were abandoned.

Historical of Revolutionary and Age of Reason

The Age of Reason or The Enlightenment symbolizes the attitude and ethnicity of the 18th century. During this phase, the main aspect of the philosophy was reasoning. Sentiments such as emotion and faith took a back seat and the focus lay on science, math and logic. The times signifying the beginning and ending of this period are not clearly demarked.

Some proclaim the middle of the 17th century or the beginning of the 18th century as the onset of the Age of Reason; others have mapped the date to mid 1600s wherein its origin was highlighted in Discourse on the Method by Descartes which was published in 1637.

The movement spread over a large domain that included Germany, Great Britain, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal and Spain. In fact, it is believed that the participants of the American Declaration of Independence, the United States Bill of Rights, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and the Polish-Lithuanian Constitution of May 3, 1791; were all enthused by the doctrine of this era. The Age of Reason did not embody any one solitary line of thought. On the contrary, many of the viewpoints expressed during this span were incongruous. In essence, The Enlightenment was a value system structured on the ethics of democracy, reason and freedom.

However, towards the latter part of the 18th century, the movement suffered a decline ushering in the era of Romanticism. The idea of reason was discarded for sentiments, which embodied the Romantic Movement.

The Proponent in Revolutionary and Age of Reason

Benjamin Franklin was a great leader in the American Revolution. He had many jobs in his life. He was a politician, a writer, a musician, a scientist and an inventor, so now read about some of the ways he helped America.

During the American Revolution, he convinced the French to help the Americans. Franklin told the French that if the Redcoats won the war that the British would be too powerful. The French and British were enemies, so having Great Britain be this powerful would be bad for the French. Franklin helped write the Constitution of the United States, which were the laws for the new country, and he signed four of the most important documents in the new country's history. These were the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Treaty of Alliance with France, and the Treaty of Paris, 1783. Benjamin Franklin did amazing things to help get the new country going.

American revolutionary Thomas Paine, that challenges institutionalized religion and challenges the legitimacy of the Bible, the central sacred text of Christianity. The Age of Reason presents common deistic arguments; for example, it highlights what Paine saw as corruption of the Christian Church and criticizes its efforts to acquire political power. Paine advocates reason in the place of revelation, leading him to reject miracles and to view the Bible as an ordinary piece of literature rather than as a divinely inspired text. It promotes natural religion and argues for the existence of a creator-God.

The Main Idea of the Revolutionary and Age of Reason

A sense of national identity—the isolation of the colonial period evolved into a spirit of common interest. “We had best hang together, or we shall surely hang separately”

Patrick Henry's “Liberty or Death” speech showed unity of purpose. Evidence existed that people felt bound to each other.

The Revolution began in the early 1760s with Otis’s protest against Writs of Assistance. John Adams claimed it began in the “Hearts and Minds” with the Stamp Act of 1765. The seeds had actually been planted when the colonial settlements became established.

There were in fact many reasons for discontent, and no avenues for redress of grievances. Yet it was an anti-colonial war for independence.

In many ways the British had no one to blame but themselves; their governance of the colonies was an unending stream of insensitivity and inflexibility: the real cause of the war was “imperial mismanagement”—they failed to consult the colonists on almost all major policy issues, feeling that what was good for the Empire was good for all its parts, all the while treating the colonies as "dependent children."

Contribution in American Period

Establishment of a real constitutional monarchy in England with William and Mary, who signed The Bill Of Rights , which effectively limited the power of the monarchs in favor of that of the Parliament.

Scotland becomes part of the United Kingdom through the Act of Union

The House of Hannover came to the throne. King George I (1714-1727) was the nearest Protestant relative of Anne, who had died without an heir.  He was German and spoke practically no English.  George II (1727-1760) was a weak king and let himself be influenced by Queen Caroline, who ruled as Regent in his absence. During his reign Canada was conquered and the Indian Empire was founded.

Numerous inventions in the textile and transport sectors revolutionize the productive and commercial field.

On July 4th 1776 a Committee of 500 under Thomas Jefferson drew up the Declaration of Independence. The inevitable ensuing war with Britain lasted 6 years and ended in 1781, with the victory for the United States which had been helped by French armies. At the peace treaty in Paris Britain recognized the independence of the United States of America. The American war for independence also helped to trigger the French Revolution of 1789.