ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos

American Literature: Enlighten Me 214 Views


Share It!


Description:

What was the Age of Enlightenment? It was a time of some major eye-opening. And not of the Clockwork Orange variety. An intellectual movement swept across Europe, and established ideas in the realms of philosophy, politics, government, religion and war were challenged. At least hoop skirts were still "in."

Language:
English Language

Transcript

00:01

No in lightning Establish not affected rooms of philosophy politics

00:10

going new world exotica growth he's appeared to do them

00:13

by and large retired attorney and injustice in light man

00:19

wait wait Because religious revival god's will tis brief critical

00:29

thinking question Okay we're going to change gears here a

00:34

bit this time we're not analyzing any great beloved work

00:37

of literature just a recent article written by an english

00:39

professor Um why are we wasting your time Well we're

00:43

not hopefully but this lesson will be about analyzing language

00:47

and stylistic choices like the first few videos in this

00:49

course instead it's going to focus on the content of

00:53

the writing In other words we want to read this

00:55

article to learn about the impact that the enlightenment had

00:58

our new england in the seventeen hundreds to be crystal

01:01

clear the enlightenment of that period time between giving christmas

01:04

when everyone turned their house into a gaudy festival of

01:06

headache inducing elimination Okay scratch that the enlightment was actually

01:11

an intellectual movement that swept through europe and beyond during

01:15

the eighteenth century It carried the notion that beliefs in

01:18

the past were dim or dark or lacking and that

01:21

those old ideas needed reawaken with light Hence the catchy

01:26

title The era was all about looking skeptically at the

01:30

established norms like why should the ruling class structured not

01:33

be up for discussion Why should everyone be forced to

01:36

subscribe to a particular religion Why isn't it time to

01:39

give tolerance and personal liberty a try So yeah lots

01:43

of changes in the political and philosophical rooms and the

01:45

era's artwork specs painters were no longer required by the

01:49

seventeenth century painters union toe only paint people who look

01:52

like baby versions of vladimir putin anyway since new england

01:55

was under english control at the time again sarge a

01:58

catchy name there new attitudes about life shaped in the

02:01

enlightenment had a defining effect on life in the new

02:04

world Stuff that was going on overseas filtered into america

02:09

like one big part of the enlightenment was a scientific

02:11

revolution that was happening in europe There were a ton

02:14

of new inventions steam engines hot air balloons diving bills

02:18

fire extinguishers glow in the dark sneakers and a whole

02:21

bunch of others Some of the great scientific minds behind

02:25

these advancements were making their way to new england where

02:27

they would begin A culture of innovation and technology led

02:30

independence same deal with great political thinkers philosophers and religious

02:34

theorists Thea upstart world of new england had full So

02:39

with this huge influx of brainiacs in various fields flooding

02:42

into the new world there was bound to be an

02:44

impact on puritan culture These folks were all about not

02:48

changing They were uber conservative determined to honor the past

02:52

But then here comes this flashy new upstart wanting to

02:54

shake everything up Many puritans were resistant They thought we

02:58

would today call progress Others decided to go with the

03:01

flow Which is exactly what emery elliot talks about in

03:04

his article The legacy of puritanism How the evolving progressive

03:08

ideas of enlightenment shaped puritanism and how the resulting religious

03:12

revivals led to both intellectual and physical revolution No need

03:17

to read the entire thing Just go ahead and read

03:19

the section the impact of the enlightenment on new england

03:22

Come back when you're ready we'll be waiting All right

03:51

so america was just sort of figuring it's about like

03:53

a teenager going through puberty Sorry for made it awkward

03:56

Today we say we're american which means something and not

04:00

just that we have a mailing address somewhere in the

04:02

fifty states we maybe a country full of individuals but

04:06

we also have a collective identity Just think of some

04:09

of the things that make all of us regardless of

04:11

our personal india sink receives an interest fundamentally american The

04:15

desire to swoop in and rescue or teach the rest

04:18

of the world was really right and wrong Culture of

04:20

progress economic security and big business Love for the twilight

04:24

movies let's See what elliot has to say about the

04:26

enlightenment impact from our country's humble beginnings Our ancestors were

04:30

totally excited about plotting forward in the same old same

04:34

old They just loved bowing to a king who cared

04:37

about his pheasant hunting prowess than their health They were

04:41

huge tragedy being herded into the roman catholic church With

04:44

no saying matter on they were definitely in the mood

04:46

for more centuries of tyranny brutality and injustice Yeah not

04:50

really their basic thought Maybe it's time to carve out

04:53

a better tomorrow The article covers the degree to which

04:56

that particular tomorrow was determined by what was happening in

04:59

europe at the time There was now a vast liberal

05:02

movement sweeping the civilized world People were reevaluating old ideals

05:06

that had long been taken for granted Maybe slavery was

05:10

ah bad thing Maybe the public could rely on more

05:14

scientific analysis and rationality and less on old tired assumptions

05:18

Maybe every man had natural rights The mines were expanding

05:23

People were thinking outside the box in art in music

05:27

in politics even in religion Yep puritanism learned to shake

05:32

its tail feather As elliot explains in his writings puritans

05:35

basically broke into three protestant sects based on their dividing

05:39

beliefs Male female and other sects got it Okay so

05:45

there were some who were married to the old ways

05:47

They were called old calvinists because a they walked with

05:50

canes and had liver spots and b they subscribe to

05:53

the beliefs promoted by john calvin with a major focus

05:56

on the concept of some other puritans worked andi emphasizing

06:01

the strict calvinist doctrine which made it easier to attract

06:04

new members Thes guys were called the old Lights among

06:08

these more liberal protestants were some who went so far

06:11

as actively evangelize I make an effort to convert others

06:15

to their church's beliefs They lead religious revive and we're

06:18

big on imagery and passionately spoken sermons The members of

06:22

this sect become known as new lights Awesome So who

06:26

cares Well let's Think about it These new lights were

06:29

skilled motivators They inspired people with their passion and urge

06:33

them to make sacrifices for a greater good Yeah it

06:36

was actually under the umbrella of religion But those skills

06:39

translated quite well When it came time arouse colonists to

06:43

take up arms against the bad guy I e england

06:46

The new lights might have done most of their preaching

06:47

about god The colonial pride was still at the forefront

06:51

of their value system America was on its way to

06:53

becoming the united states of america And it would need

06:57

dedicated persuasive speakers toe light fires under people's butts before

07:02

the enlightenment Most colonists weren't particularly thrilled about their situation

07:06

No but no one was about to go to war

07:08

in order to change their status They were kind of

07:11

going about their lives but they were being ruled by

07:13

a king who didn't seem to care whether they lived

07:15

or died So they remain just sort of resigned to

07:17

their fate But then came the great awakening The religious

07:21

revival brought about by the new lights It was a

07:24

huge improvement over the pretty good awakening which only had

07:27

one eye open and change These new lights were both

07:30

inspirational and opened Everyone's eyes both of us They told

07:34

everyone that americans were god's chosen people that a better

07:37

future awaited them All they had to do was fight

07:40

for that future So thanks to the idea of american

07:43

exceptionalism the belief that america was the greatest country on

07:46

earth and their vision of sacred destiny aii americans were

07:50

god's chosen people The puritans turned protestants decided to go

07:55

fulfill their duty to god What did that mean Well

07:58

basically it meant ridding themselves of england so they could

08:00

do and a round thing Thomas paine and just about

08:02

every great writer and orator of the time talked about

08:05

his sense of manifest destiny The belief that it was

08:08

god's will for american settlers to spread westward and to

08:11

form a bigger and better nation than the one they

08:13

were leaving behind Without that idea spring everyone onward The

08:17

revolutionary war would have never happened And we never would

08:21

have had all those great paintings of it Which would

08:23

have been a bummer So the colonists many of them

08:26

spurred to action by the new lights One door Sorry

08:29

Spoiler alert earned their freedom Okay God our freedom Awesome

08:33

sauce What next Well with the country under their control

08:36

it was time for american settlers to establish a new

08:39

and improved economic and political systems and her capitalism Hey

08:44

when you think about it protestants were certainly preoccupied with

08:46

the hereafter But they also believe that while you were

08:49

on earth you'd better work your funds off That is

08:52

it was disrespectful to god not a car earning a

08:56

living to support yourself and your family be a burden

08:58

to nobody Don't sit around and wait for handouts from

09:01

the government Pursue your spiritual and material calling so you

09:05

could be rewarded on earth as well as in heaven

09:08

which has capitalism written all over it Well material calling

09:12

part Anyway elliot goes on to talk about how many

09:14

of our most inspirational leaders in the centuries Since like

09:16

martin luther king jr made great strides by reminding us

09:20

that we the people were meant for something better That

09:23

are strong ideals including our belief that all men are

09:26

created equal made a smarter and mortally better than backward

09:30

countries Who just didn't get it although king and company

09:33

usually put in more eloquently So yeah well it's unlikely

09:39

you cross tasked with a seventeenth century puritan nowadays on

09:42

a trip to seven eleven their influence on our present

09:45

culture is undeniable and it isn't difficult to see how

09:48

the enlightenment had an influence on them Why does any

09:52

of this matter Well for one thing we have our

09:55

freedom We're not having to check in with british soldiers

09:58

standing guard outside her house every morning so don't we

10:01

have a debt Tell those revolutionaries who risked their lives

10:04

is to get england out of our hair many of

10:06

whom were incited toe action by the protestants It took

10:10

the enlightenment a brand new way of looking at the

10:12

world to convince early american settlers that they could have

10:15

their own country and that they had the strength to

10:18

go out there and take it Machiavelli would be proud

10:22

for curiosity's sake Where do you think we'd be with

10:25

out capitalism Do you think we have quite so many

10:28

nice things What There have been as many advancements in

10:31

medicine or technology or reality tv programming Would there even

10:35

be on american dream All right enough of me talking

10:39

at you Here are some Things for you to ponder

10:42

What is the doctrine of predestination and why did many

10:47

people have a problem with it If you could go

10:49

back in time until the puritans that they'd be at

10:51

least partly responsible for the rise of capitalism how would

10:55

they have felt about it Next What was the great

10:58

awakening and what effect did it have on american christianity

11:02

and last what's The connection between the puritan idea of

11:05

americans as the chosen people and the idea of national

11:08

pride have fun mulling over your answers to these questions

11:12

I hope you find all these mulling on enlightening experience 00:11:17.962 --> [endTime] Sorry really i'm sorry

Up Next

Catching Fire (Part 2)
6719 Views

“Happy Hunger Games!” Or not. Katniss’s Hunger Games experiences left a not-so-happy effect on her. This video will prompt you to ponder if...

Related Videos

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
47686 Views

Who's really the crazy one in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest? Shmoop amongst yourselves.

Edgar Allan Poe: The Twilight Connection
3321 Views

Sure, Edgar Allan Poe was dark and moody and filled with teenage angst, but what else does he have in common with the Twilight series?

El Gran Gatsby
861 Views

¿Por que es el 'Gran' Gatsby tan gran? ¿Porque de su nombre peculiar? ¿Porque de el misterio que le rodea? Se ha discutido esta pregunta por muc...

Fahrenheit 451
84285 Views

Would would the world be like without books? Ray Bradbury tackles that question—and many more— in Fahrenheit 451. Go ahead; read it on your Kin...