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The Enlightenment was a movement of beliefs dealing with the ideas of God, reason, nature, and man that attacked fundamental beliefs and practices of European society. Enlightenment thinkers were convinced that with useful knowledge and freedom in their lives they could discover happiness. Thoughts that came from the Enlightenment affected science, religion and the way society thought. The three main aspects of the Enlightenment were improving human life, understanding the laws of nature, and having a code of moral conduct. Benjamin Franklin and Eliza Pinckney were two Enlightenment thinkers who had these aspects in their life. Benjamin Franklin was truly an enlightened American of his time world-renowned for his ideas and inventions.
Franklins several experiments and inventions helped him to both understand the laws of nature and to improve human life. Franklin was both near-and far-sighted, and being frustrated by having to constantly change between two pairs of glasses, he created bifocals. The bifocals caused him to see near and far in one frame. To create bifocals, he cut the lenses from both spectacles in half and put them together in one frame. Another invention is the odometer used on Franklins carriage to map out routes in the town.
The odometer measured how many times the wheel of his carriage made a full circle. Franklins most well known for inventing the lighting rod. Ben had a theory lightning was an electrical current in nature. He tested his theory by using a kite, and it turned out to be correct.
Lightning is a stream of electrified air (The Great Idea Finder). Knowing lightning was dangerous; he invented the lightning rod to protect people and buildings (The Great Idea Finder) {Ravi Kavasery, Serge Aime, & Alexander Mittendorf}. Ben Franklin created thirteen virtues that stood as his code of moral conduct. Each virtue had a name and an idea that Franklin wanted to follow.
For example, the name for number one is temperance. The thought behind number one is Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation (Franklin, 84). This idea meant moderating every mental and physical pleasure in life such as passion and pleasure. He attempted to fix one virtue every week. He said order, virtue number three, was the hardest to achieve. The idea behind order was Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time (Franklin, 84).
At the end of his life, Franklin says he never achieved the level of perfection he wanted, but he was a better, happier man (Franklin 87) than he would have been if he didnt do what he did throughout his life. Franklin was clearly an example of an Enlightenment thinker through his ideas, inventions, and code of moral conduct. Eliza Pinckney was another American intrigued by the Enlightenment. She did several experiments to help her understand the laws of nature and improve human life. She experimented for three years with crops such as ginger, cotton, indigo, and alfalfa to see if they would grow well in South Carolina. From her experiments, she discovered indigo grows very well.
At the time, South Carolinas entire economy was based on rice. Conflicts England was having with France and Spain caused their markets to go out of business. The indigo plant she discovered was used to make a dye that was used for army uniforms and dress coats of the time. Because the dye was in such demand, it helped boost the economy greatly (Legacy of Leadership). Eliza Pinckneys code of moral conduct differed greatly from Benjamin Franklins. Instead of having a list of virtues to follow, she had a strict schedule that she observed daily.
Every morning at five she would wake up at five and read for two hours. Then, she would walk through her gardens before she ate breakfast. After breakfast, she would listen to music for an hour before practicing something she has learned in the past such as French or short hand. Her afternoons were spent teaching her daughter to read. Eliza also wrote a serious of resolutions that discuss what shes happy and thankful for in her life. Some of her resolutions include not being luxurious or extravagant in the management of family (Pinckney 91).
She also talks about how thankful she is to believe in and be blessed by the Grace of God. Her experiments and thoughts prove that she is a thinker of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment can be defined as bringing more light, more knowledge, more peace, or more love to any particular area in life that a person feels needs a positive change. Benjamin Franklin and Eliza Pinckneys were visionaries and deserve to be honored for all their experiments, inventions, and thoughts...
Bibliography: Bibliography Benjamin Franklin: An Enlightened American. December 10 1998. An American Enlightenment. 25 Sept 2000. web America Firsthand.
New York: Bedford, 1997. The Great Idea Finder. 1997. The Great Idea Finder. 25 Sept 2000. web Legacy of Leadership: South Carolina Business Hall of Fame. 1999.
Legacy of Leadership. 25 Sept 2000. web
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Research essay sample on Laws Of Nature Enlightenment Thinkers
