Difference Between Puritan And The Enlightenment

During the 1630’s, there was a group known as, the Puritans. The Puritans immigrated from England to America, for the sole purpose of religious freedom and their belief that the church of England needed reform. Puritan author’s, Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards, conveyed their messages and beliefs in their writing . For these two authors, they were working around the same foundation, Puritanism, for the intended messages. Admittedly, there is a disconnection in belief between the two. Edward’s writings take Puritanism to the extreme whilst Bradstreet’s works show a more traditional view in the religion while staying true to it.

When comparing Benjamin Franklin’s style of writing to the early American Puritans style, he has a more down-to-earth approach. He writes his thoughts journalistically, stating what happened in his life, as well as, how he felt about it. In addition, in contrast to Puritan writers, he “believed that people were naturally innocent, that all the mysteries that charmed the religious mind could be explained to our advantage, and that education, properly undertaken, would transform our lives and set us free from the tyrannies of church and monarchy” (Baym 235).

Jonathan Edwards and Anne Bradstreet both pursue the Puritan lifestyle; however, the way they perceive God religiously and stylistically is completely different. Puritan literature contains emotional, logical, and ethical appeal straight from a person's interpretation of the bible. Anne Bradstreet and Jonathan Edwards, two authors of Puritan writings differ in their religious views and style: each author conveys a construaled message of God being either loving or crude.

Franklin elevated himself from his “lowly station” as the youngest son in a family of seventeen and a printer’s apprentice to his ultimate status as one of the main founding fathers of a nation. Franklin voices the stories of his life, hoping that not only his son, but each set of eyes that read his work would recognize that you can come from nothing yet still make something of yourself. Franklin was eager to learn all that he could, always trying to acquire new skills and education. Franklin displays this zeal multiple times, in example, “I found I wanted a stock of words, or a readiness in recollecting and using them … would have laid me under a constant necessity of searching for variety, and also have tended to fix that variety in my mind, and make me master of it.”

Benjamin Franklin is considered one of the greatest men in the history of America. From his reckless lifestyle as a young man to becoming a wise leader, he was always a great thinker. Furthermore, Franklin was an avid reader gaining much insight and opinions from his extensive reading. Benjamin Franklin was a very moral man, always seeking to cultivate his character, yet his “religion” stemmed from trusting in the “written” word rather than the Word.

By the eighteenth century, the once-fierce Puritan fire was facing the end of its reign, releasing its hold on the American mind in favor of the Age of Enlightenment. Rational, “enlightened” thinking blossomed during this period, which saw great changes in the way the world was perceived, as philosophers and scholars began replacing the supernatural with the secular and worldly in their theories and beliefs. This dramatic transition from the harsh Puritan beliefs to a more curious, scientifically centered mindset was spearheaded by some of the most famous names in American History. Amongst these, Benjamin Franklin stands in particular fame as one who shifted the focus of faith in American life. Endowed with a “proud and independent . . . nature”, Franklin’s obsession with accountability and responsibility for one’s own actions had a great effect on his views (Franklin 455). Turning his back on the “dry, uninteresting and unedifying” Presbyterian teachings whose “[a]im

Benjamin Franklin was a man of many outstanding accomplishments. He was a protégé in his youth, an inventor in his young adulthood, and later an activist. He started a newspaper empire in a city no one had faith in. He invented the Franklin Stove that would be used as a model for modern appliances. He even advocated for the abolition of slavery and the institution of women’s rights. At the surface Franklin seems impeccable, but authentically is far from it. In The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Part One and Part Two encompass his flaws and his successes. As Franklin transitions from Part One into Part Two a drastic shift occurs in the representation of his character. In the introduction of Part Two, Franklin no longer writes with candor in regards to his flaws and mistakes, but writes with caution. With the progression from Part One to Part Two, critics such as D.H. Lawrence believe Franklin himself transitions from a “moral animal” into a “moral machine” (Lawrence 22). Changing between these two radically extraordinary moralities, Franklin forms his character into figure that should not be loved on the record of his pietism in the second part, however, but should be appreciated due to the duty he takes for his flaws in part one.

James Dillon’s article focused on the views of Americans on education in the US under Benjamin Franklin’s perspective. Benjamin Franklin sense of curiosity to life and learning made him a model for children. His wonder based approach to life and learning, enable him to made discoveries and underwent self-education. The idea was to show how a person’s life and character could make a change through constant self-assessment. The article does not take the reader in how to live life, but shows Franklin dedication to find a formula that could assure a person of some success.

Puritanism was a religious reform kineticism within the Church of England in the tardy sixteenth century. Jonathan Edwards spoke sermons using Puritan characteristics. Anne Bradstreet wrote poetry using Puritan characteristics. Although, both writers used puritan characteristics, Bradstreet’s literature better reflects the puritan works, because Bradstreet saw religion as a personal inner experience, expressed connections between God and everyday life, and had a plain style of writing.

There are not many “major” female writers in American Literature, and writing, traditionally, has always been viewed as a masculine activity. It is therefore very interesting, and even ironic, that the first author published in the newly established Puritan society on the American soil, Anne Bradstreet, was a female. Indeed, Bradstreet's poems are filled with female presence. However, I also sense that Bradstreet’s feminism is held in check by her Puritan values, and there is a conflict created throughout her writing between this society of Puritan patriarchy that she lived in and her identity as a female.

Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston into a traditional Puritan household and he grew up in morals and ideas of America’s first European settlers that affected Franklin when he is a child. “My parents had early given me religious impressions, and brought me through my childhood piously in the Dissenting way.” and “… my mind with regard to my principles and morals…” (Page 43) He lived in a time of tumultuous changes that his character and thought were shaped by a blending of Puritan heritage and enlightenment philosophy. Franklin’s father, Josiah, intended Franklin would go into the church that put Franklin to school as a child. “I was put to the grammar-school at eight years of age, my father intending to devote, as the tithe of his sons, to the service of the Church.” (Page 6) and developed his writing and math skill by his father altered his intention “took me from the grammar-school, and sent me to a school for writing and arithmetic, kept by a then famous man, Mr. George Brownell…” (Page 6) Franklin was developed his writing skill and felt interesting in it. In his early childhood, reading became the most important part for Franklin’s self-improvement. Later on his life, he met up great literatures by Shakespeare, Pope, and Addison, which build up his character and attitude. He wanted to become an English writer when he met with the Spectator by Joseph Addison. “I thought the writing excellent, and wished, if possible, to imitate it.” (Page 11) and “by

Puritan literature was often about religion and their relationship with God. Just like in Anne Bradstreet’s poem,

interacts with Franklin’s ideas and beliefs in the work of the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin: Part One, we can better understand how literary writing helped to shape, but was also shaped by, the growing importance of reflection on one’s self and life during the early eighteenth century.

Beliefs also played a crucial role. Early on there was a divide between how people went about living their lives. The Puritans followed strict religious guidelines and did everything they could to please God. Anne Bradstreet wrote in “Verses upon the Burning of our House”, “My hope and treasure lies above.” Bradstreet’s Puritan views believed that the church was the most important thing and people’s focus should be on God. The opposing view to the Puritans was the Rationalists. Rationalists believed that all decisions should be based on science and reason. Many Rationalists were still religious but Science was more important to them. They used their scientific minds to come up with more efficient ways of doing things. Benjamin Franklin, one of the most famous Rationalist thinkers, one wrote in his autobiography, “And like him who, having a garden to weed, does not attempt to eradicate all the bad herbs at once, which would exceed his reach and his strength, but works on one of the beds at a time, and, having accomplished the first, proceeds to a second, so I should have.” This Quotation epitomizes the thought process of coming up with the most efficient way to do things. The Puritans and Rationalists had very different views and beliefs but they both contributed literature to the Colonial Period. Their different views added variation to literature during this time

Rooted in the New England ethos, Benjamin Franklin was indelibly stamped in the Puritan dye yet exempt from Puritan spirituality. In his thoughts and deed he showed possibilities of a secularized and humanized world view” (Conkin 73). A study of his autobiography exposes how the Puritan anticipates the pragmatism of such American thinkers like Charles S. Pierce, William James and John Deway. This paper endeavors to trace the traits of Puritanism and pragmatism