Dialectic of Enlightenment

French aristocrat, J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur showed his admiration for the diverse population of America in his collection of essays. By acknowledging the European immigrants’ strife, Crevecoeur provides reasoning behind their desire to forge a new life in the New World. “Can a wretch who wanders about, whose life is a continual scene of affliction call England or any other kingdom his country?” The trivial question proposed by Crevecoeur denounces England for its weakening effect on its…

Psycologcial Circumstances Shaping the Principles of the French Revolution Studying history and its events is often helpful when determining how impactful they will be to current or future events, writings or people. Maxillien de Robespierre’s influence on the Jacobins and the direction of the ideals shaped the revolution. The history of France and the surrounding countries before and during the early point of the eighteenth century affected the circumstances that arose during events such as the…

In a time of crisis between different religions and ideologies, the renaissance period religion carried different purposes than that of today. Machiavelli was one of the first political thinkers to view religion as a necessary and great tool in the hands of a ruler. In the era right before the modern era, Machiavelli authored two great works, the Discourses and the Prince, both works hold different perspectives in political theory but are both necessary to understand what makes up a just and…

American history is filled with ups and downs. First you have the settlement era where very clueless and scared individuals move across the world to live in a very unfamiliar place. Then you have the enlightenment era were people change up their philosophies and start to take more about nature and science. It continues all the way to the era we are currently in, postmodern era where we write more freely. American literate styles changes as time goes on. These styles change because of historical…

When is Plagiarism not Plagiarism, Well a famous example of this is the Calculus theory and development. This interests me since it both demonstrates mathematics and the hot topic of the week Plagiarism. Both Issac Newton and Gottfreid Liebniz both lay claim to this discovery. Liebniz first discovered the theories of calculus during the 1670’s published in the 1680’s. However Newton developed his theories of calculus during the 1660’s published during the 1690’s. Was Plagiarism involved here?…

Charles Dickens, author of A tale of Two Cities, is very unsympathetic to the French Revolution. Through his novel, he portrays his dislike toward the Revolution, and essentially war itself. His characters show how war turns humanity animalistic and pitiless. The French Revolution came about to free the French middle class and the peasantry from the oppressive aristocracy; however, after the overthrow, the people become oppressed under the new rulers, leaving the French Revolution not effective…

Biographical Summary Voltaire was born Francois-Marie Arouet in Paris on February 20, 1694, the last of five children in a family of relative success and nobility. His father and namesake, Francois Arouet, was a low-ranking treasury official for the French crown, while his mother, Marie Marguerite Daumard, came from a family in the lowest ring of French nobility. Voltaire had always displayed a passion and talent for writing, but his father forced him to study law, sending him to work as an…

A history composed of specific people, wars, revolutions compose what we look back to today. It is the foundation of each country and what they are built upon. The American revolution inspired other revolutions and were performed by different events such as resenting their governing country or to be simply inspired and motivated as America, France, and Haiti were. As both the French and Haitian were inspired from the American revolution, it shows the greater importance of the American revolution…

The Enlightenment was a period highlighted by philosophers challenging previous thinkers. The the writings of John Locke and Montesquieu advocated for a more powerful voice for the general public who had previously been tightly controlled by the Church and government. Locke and Montesquieu efforts told us that the government had a tight grip on the people. Locke big idea was the equality for the people. He talked about the government should only exist with the consent of free people. In his…

Being one of the most crucial times in histroy for the United Staes, the Industrial Revolution was ironically, one of the best times to be alive and one of the worst. As Charles Dickens said in his novel A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope.” Although Dickens was referring to the French Revolution when saying this, it could also easily be put in the context of the American Industrial Revolution. The…