15 - Major Events in the Colonies - Enlightenment Summary

•Recall/Narrate John Locke's 2nd Treatise of Government (from Thursday's PDF) & Benjamin Franklin's biography (From Friday's video).
•Popcorn read pg 35 (From "But religion...") through the end of pg 36.
•While reading, discuss these questions:
•How might a new land like America, without old traditions or kings, have been the perfect place for Enlightenment ideas about freedom and reason to grow?
•What do the Great Awakening (Recall Edwards, Whitefield & Wesley) and the Enlightenment both reveal about how Americans felt toward authority and personal freedom?
•How could changes in how people thought about faith, reason, and authority lead them to see themselves as independent from a king or empire?
•As Americans learned to question old authorities in both church and state, were they gaining wisdom? Or were they just trading one form of certainty for another?
***If time permits, you can read through Benjamin Franklin's "Plan for Attaining Moral Perfection" to display how Enlightenment thinking led to a mentality of improving humanity through reason and science rather than revelation and spirituality.*** (PDF attached)