The American Tradition in Literature Vol. 1 4th 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.
