Revolutionary Period Unit Materials Revolutionary Period Word

Revolutionary Period Unit Materials

Revolutionary Period Word Bank • Apparition • Redress • Tart • Martial • Bondage • Investment • Arduous • Censure • Relinquish • Remonstrance

Revolutionary Period Other names Enlightenment Deism Naturalism Age of Reason

Rise of Rationalism and Independence The Age of Reason • Started in Europe and spread to America • Threatened faith system of Puritans • Believed man could use reason and intellect, rather than religion, to discover scientific and spiritual truth • Best form of worship was to do good for others

Rise of Rationalism and Independence Tinkerers and Experimenters • Prominent American rationalists include Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Thomas Paine • Writings reflected rationalist worldview • Most prominent work was Franklin’s The Autobiography Benjamin Franklin

Smallpox Plague Thought in Action • Plague infected nearly half of Boston’s population • Puritan preacher Cotton Mather started inoculation efforts • Proof that not all Puritan thinking was rigid and narrow • Example of how practical approach to change was necessary in America

American Revolution Forming a New Nation • Signed Declaration of Independence from Britain in 1776 • Many arguments in Declaration based on rationalist beliefs • George Washington, a rationalist, elected first president of United States George Washington

Revolutionary Period Characteristics • Perfectibility of a human being • Interest in classics as well as the Bible • Interest in science and experimentation • Interest in nature

Characteristics continued • Optimism – experiments in utopian societies • Sense of a person’s duty to succeed • Inquiry in all aspects of the world around

Background Questions 1. What religious doctrine did many intelligent, well-educated men of the time follow? 2. Briefly describe the Enlightenment (Deistic) Period. 3. Where did the Age of Reason begin?

4. What did leading American writers of the period concern themselves with the least? 5. Americans had to be able to do many things themselves. A term for people who are knowledgeable about many things is _____. 6. According to rationalism how do people arrive at truth?

7. Deists believe that the universe is ______ and ______. 8. The Age of Reason in America combined what two things? 9. Describe the majority of American literature during the Age of Reason.

Ben Franklin Video (See Ben Franklin Video on Helpful Resource Link to watch this video)

Franklin’s The Autobiography 10. List the virtues that Franklin includes in his notebook. *see list on page 72 11. In his Autobiography, Franklin writes that the first place that he sleeps in Philadelphia is ______. 12. What characteristic is central to Franklin’s scheme for self-perfection?

13. Does the list of virtues include items concerning religious observances? 14. How many virtues per week did Franklin try to perfect?

Franklin’s “Sayings of Poor Richard” 15. Briefly describe Poor Richard’s character. 16. Do the principles in Poor Richard’s Almanac include qualities related to public concern? 17. How was Poor Richard’s Almanac different from other Colonial almanacs?

18. One maxim (or saying) included in the almanac is “If a man could have half his wishes, he would double his troubles. ” This is an example of what literary term? 19. The Almanac displays Franklin’s gift for what type of ironic or sarcastic writing?

Speech to the Virginia Convention by Patrick Henry Arguing the Parson’s Cause, attributed to George Cooke

Speech to the Virginia Convention by Patrick Henry In his speech to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1775, Patrick Henry tells the members that it is now time to take up arms against the British. Notice how Henry masterfully appeals to both the hearts and the minds of his listeners. Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

Speech to the Virginia Convention Literary Focus: Persuasion is a form of speaking or writing that aims to convince an audience to take a specific action. To convince an audience, a good persuasive speaker or writer uses • logical appeals sound reasons to support an opinion or endorse a course of action • emotional appeals that speak to the hearts of the audience and address their hopes and fears

Speech to the Virginia Convention Reading Skills: Recognizing Modes of Persuasion In this speech, Patrick Henry uses two modes of persuasion: • appeals to reason Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies? No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us; they can be meant for no other. • appeals to emotion or values They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging.

Patrick Henry Video (Open Patrick Henry Video in Helpful Resources to Watch Video)

Patrick Henry’s “Speech to the Virginia Convention” 22. Patrick Henry feels that he must share his ideas. He says that failure to share his ideas would make him a ____. 23. What method of writing does Henry’s speech represent? 24. Briefly describe Patrick Henry’s character.

25. Why was Henry’s speech the Virginia Convention important? 26. Both Henry and Paine believed that the Revolution was ______.

Thomas Paine Video (Open Thomas Paine Video in Helpful Resources to View this Video)

Thomas Paine’s The Crisis Papers The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Thomas Paine (1737– 1809)

Literary Technique: Ironic Allusion Irony - implies some sort of discrepancy or difference between what is said and what is meant, or between appearance and reality, or between expectation and fulfillment (dramatic irony and irony of situation). Allusion - a reference to something in history or previous literature

Thomas Paine’s The Crisis Papers 32. In The Crisis Papers, Paine compared the British to what? 33. What type of person did Paine criticize? 34. What device does Paine use when he describes the Tory plan as “a peace which passeth all understanding”? 35. Why does Paine believe that the British are fighting in New Jersey and other middle states?

from The Autobiography: The Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 by John Trumbull

from The Autobiography: The Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson The sacred rights of mankind. . are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature. Alexander Hamilton (1755– 1804)

from The Autobiography: The Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson The Declaration of Independence underwent many changes to become the document we know today. This selection shows • Jefferson’s original draft of the Declaration • the changes that the Second Continental Congress made to produce the final document

from The Autobiography: The Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson The cornerstone of the American dream is the ideal of freedom. As you read Jefferson’s document, notice how it expresses • a resounding affirmation of the human right to liberty • an understanding of the responsibilities that go hand in hand with freedom

from The Autobiography: The Declaration of Independence Literary Focus: Parallelism, or parallel structure, is the repetition of grammatically similar words phrases clauses sentences Listen to this excerpt from The Declaration of Independence and note the parallelism. We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. . from The Declaration of Independence

from The Autobiography: The Declaration of Independence Literary Focus: Parallelism Jefferson’s use of parallelism creates a stately rhythm, or cadence, in the Declaration. Listen for this cadence as you read passages aloud.

The Declaration of Independence Video (Open this Video under Helpful Resource Folder)

Too Late to Apologize (Open this Video under Helpful Resource Folder)

Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence 27. To what audience is the Declaration of Independence addressed? 28. List the elements of persuasive writing that can be found in the Declaration of Independence. 29. Why were changes made in the original wording of the Declaration of Independence?

30. According to the Declaration of Independence, what are the rights of man? 31. What common characteristic of the Age of Reason is expressed in the Declaration of Independence?

TJ Activity Your task is to bring Thomas Jefferson into the modern world. You can do this three ways: 1. Draw an illustration depicting a modern Thomas Jefferson. What would he look like today? Are there any famous people Thomas Jefferson would resemble in modern-day America? 2. Write a short story or poem of TJ reacting to the new world. 3. Choose another creative way to bring TJ into 2012. Then we will share!!!

Writing Assignment: Revolutionary Period • Write a detailed paragraph explaining how three characteristics of the Revolutionary Period (which we discussed in class) are revealed. Include a topic sentence, transitions, and a clincher sentence. Also, use at least three examples of specific writers and texts, punctuated correctly.

Revolutionary Period Chart Rev. Period Trait (from background notes) 1. 2. 3. Name of Title of Text Author (punctuated correctly) Specific example of how trait is revealed in this work