The Scottish Enlightenment The period of dominance of humanistic value in Scottish intellectual realm of 18th century is commonly referred to as Scottish Enlightenment. It lasted from 1740 to 1790, although some historians suggest that the year 1800 marks the end of it. It has to be remembered that Scotland remained culturally isolated from England right until 1707, when it was incorporated in British Empire. Throughout its existence, as a separate state, Scotland maintained a strong cultural and political ties with France. Many prominent Scottish philosophers and politicians were being brought up in France and the French language was a native to them. Yet, after 1707, Scottish intellectual elite realized the fact that it was only a matter of time before the traditional way of life in Scotland would become a history.
This is because of the raising of industrialism in England, which would also affect Scotland. The most prominent Scottish intellectuals, such as David Hume, Adam Ferguson, John Millar and Adam Smith, were well aware of more progressive new socio-political reality, which was coming as the result of capitalist relations between people. Yet, their cultural attachment to the French humanistic tradition, caused them to base their vision of socio-economic relations on the notions of morality and public good. This, of course, is a very naive suggestion, because economical development and pursuing the ideal of social justice cannot really coexist, as the history of 19th and 20th centuries had taught us. But was especially valuable about Scottish Enlightenment is that it had a very distinctive anti-Christian undertones. While English philosophers, such as John Lock, would continue to refer to God as the final authority, David Hume and John Millard suggested that the earthly affairs are conducted by people exclusively, this is why the matter of building a fair society is entirely in their hands.
The Term Paper on Darien Scheme Scottish Scotland Company
Early Modern Scotland Darien Company: A Necessary Disaster? The 1690 s were a time of much unrest in Scotland. The Glencoe massacre had served to discredit the monarch somewhat. Recent crop failures had led to a famine which was affecting much of the country. There was also a serious downturn in Scottish trade which greatly affected the economy. In the aftermath of this came the Darien Expedition. ...
There is no doubt that the American founding fathers were being greatly influenced by Scottish Enlightenment. Franklin and Jefferson had spend a long time in France, which had always been a traditional enemy of England. There they embraced much of French anti-clerical sentiment, which is also present in the works of Scottish humanists of the time. The influence of Scottish-French humanistic tradition is clearly visible in American constitution, which has a numerous referrals to God, but it does not consider him of having an emotional nature. Still, it was utilitarian philosophy of Adam Smith that underlines the foundations of American democracy. Just as other Scottish humanists of the time, Smith thought of economy as the center of objective reality and attached consequential values to all other issues related to it. Basically, Smith sees people as the necessary part of economical machine. He suggests that, even though that citizens in democratic society pursue their own secular interests, it is still possible to have such society unified by the economical means. According to Smith, as people accumulate more wealth, they should also become more virtuous, in the social sense of this word.
This suggestion betrays him as a true representative of Scottish Enlightenment. The American founding fathers were especially fond of his philosophy. Nevertheless, the reality had proven moralistic side of Smith’s theory to be wrong. In America, the accumulation of wealth is proportionally related to the moral decline. All Scottish humanists used to stress out the importance of individual freedom. It is particularly the specific of Scottish Enlightenment that all people are viewed as equal. Even though that belonging to a particular faith, usually makes one utterly intolerable, toward other religions, in the eyes of the law, people have the same right to practice their beliefs, for as long as they don’t go out killing heretics.
The Essay on Americans In The 1930 S How Far Was Roosevelt American People America
Life Did Get Better For Many Americans In The 1930 s. How Far Was Roosevelt Responsible For This Roosevelt and his New Deal pioneered the American recovery programme, however there were a number of other factors which contributed towards improving life for the American people. When Roosevelt came into power he had four main aims, get Americans back to work, protect their savings and property, ...
In my opinion, it is the influence of Scottish and French humanism on American ruling elite that allowed it to design laws that encouraged religious tolerance. The one of the biggest achievements of American founding fathers is that they were able to prevent the escalation of religious tension, which existed between numerous fractions of Quakers, Baptists, Anabaptists, Catholics, Anglicans and Puritans in this country. This is very remarkable achievement, given the fact that this country started out as heaven for Christian fanatics from all over the Europe. And it can be directly linked to the ideas of Robert Wallace and James Steuart, who believed that the idea of liberty will always win in confrontation with any intolerant religious doctrine, such as Christianity. The gradual transformation of American religious fanatics into the people for whom religion is simply another comforting thing in life was only the matter of time. By year 1787 there were very few religious communities left in America that practiced separate existence from the rest of the world. Further up in American history, we see the idea of liberty being elevated to the status of political doctrine, which people were willing to defend with their lives.
I refer to the events of the Revolutionary War 1775-1783. It is very symbolic that one of the most important expressions of patriotism by Americans was inspired by the simple tax dispute. We can think of it as the proof that the theory of Adam Smith is correct. In America, the politics always correspond with current economical situation. Even though that the representatives of Scottish Enlightenment were designing their socio-political theories to be applied in Scotland, it is only after these theories had reached America that their full potential was realised. On July 4, 1776, Continental Congress issued a Declaration of Independence, primarily written by Thomas Jefferson, who was known to have ties with Scottish humanists.
The Declaration described the new country as the union of “free and independent slates” and officially named them the United Stales of America. The document says that all people are created equal, that all have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. With help from France, England’s old enemy, and from other Europeans, the American armies, led by George Washington, a surveyor and gentleman farmer from Virginia won the War of Independence. In our days, the legacy of Scottish Enlightenment in America still exists in the form of political-correctness, which goes as far as enforcing equality, in the best tradition of European humanism.
The Essay on American Culture America Land Country
In order to understand American culture, one must have knowledge of the history of our country. America is traditionally a country of immigrants. Very few people today have ancestors who were natives in this land. Even our founding fathers fled to America... many because of religious persecution, and a few who were just looking to start a new life on the exciting untouched frontier. During the ...
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