The Enlightenment

 The American Tradition in Literature Vol. 1  4^th ed.  By Bradley, Beatty, Long, Perkins, 1974.

A growing sense of unity and independence characterized the second great period of American cultural history, beginning about 1725.  Politically, this spirit encouraged the growth of a loose confederation, disturbed by the British colonial wars on the frontier and by “intolerable’ British trade and taxation policies.  Eventually, this produced the Revolution.  The Enlightenment and rational thinking infused the minds and acts of American leaders.   Earlier religious mysticisms, local in character, were now overlaid by larger concerns for the general toleration, civil rights, and a more comprehensive democracy in government.  The last member of the Puritan hierarchy, Cotton Mather, had met fundamental and final opposition.  The secular spirit, the immigration of a new population, and the development of enterprise and commerce doomed the Puritan commonwealth, even if the Puritans themselves had not outgrown it. 

The Age of Reason manifested a rational concept of man in his relations with nature and God, suggested the extension of principles and equality and social justice, and encouraged the belief that man might assume greater control of nature without offending God.