The Enlightenment and the Power of Thinking
Intellectual Foundations of the American Revolution — Part V At its core, the Enlightenment encouraged people to step back and examine not just what they believe, but why they believe it. In essence, the Enlightenment was a revolution in “thinking about thinking” How “Thinking About Thinking” Shaped Revolutionary Perspectives As AAR’s guest scholar, Dr. Sophia […]
Use and Misuse of ‘common sense’
Intellectual Foundations of the American Revolution — Part IV Common sense (not Common Sense by Thomas Paine), as AAR’s guest scholar, Dr. Sophia Rosenfeld explains, is a more basic, instinctive form of understanding—what we naturally perceive or experience—while reason builds on it to reach higher-level conclusions through logic and inference. In the 18th century, common […]
“We Have It In Our Power to Begin the World Over Again”
In “Common Sense”, Thomas Paine wrote, “We have it in our power to begin the world over again” to urge American colonists to break from British rule and create a new, independent, and democratic republic. In the answer to our quiz, we mentioned there is a twist: this famous sentence was not published in the […]
Thomas Paine to Obama: Why America’s “Original” Founder Still Matters Today
Introduction In this interview: “Paine knew this. He knew that he had to dissuade Americans from feeling any attachment to the king, to parliament, and to the idea of the British constitution.” Watch this section in the video below (00:04:56). From “Common Sense” to the “Crisis” papers, Thomas Paine challenged power and inequality. His writings […]
How Thomas Paine Became Thomas Paine: The Origins of “Common Sense”
Introduction In this interview: “Americans, of course, think of the Revolution and they think of the Declaration of Independence. But let me make it clear. During the Revolutionary War, people thought of Common Sense as the document of independence.” Watch this section in the video below (00:44:46) Thomas Paine arrived in America in late 1774 […]
The Enlightenment, Common Sense, and the American Revolution: A Conversation with Dr. Sophia Rosenfeld – Part III
Intellectual Foundations of the American Revolution To fully comprehend the American Revolution, we have to study the developments that frayed relations between Great Britain and its American colonies in the Pre-Revolutionary Era, generally understood as the years between 1763, which marked the end of the French and Indian War, and 1775, when open and violent […]
The Enlightenment, Common Sense, and the American Revolution: A Conversation with Dr. Sophia Rosenfeld – Part II
Intellectual Foundations of the American Revolution To fully comprehend the American Revolution, we have to study the developments that frayed relations between Great Britain and its American colonies in the Pre-Revolutionary Era, generally understood as the years between 1763, which marked the end of the French and Indian War, and 1775, when open and violent […]
The Enlightenment and Intellectual Foundations of the American Revolution
Introduction In this interview: “But he’s insisting that both there’s nothing particularly radical in what he’s arguing, because anyone with common sense would know it, and also that ordinary people could probably rule on their own just fine.” Watch this section in the video below (00:34:08). To fully comprehend the American Revolution, we have to […]
The Enlightenment, Common Sense, and the American Revolution: A Conversation with Dr. Sophia Rosenfeld – Part I
Intellectual Foundations of the American Revolution To fully comprehend the American Revolution, we have to study the developments that frayed relations between Great Britain and its American colonies in the Pre-Revolutionary Era, generally understood as the years between 1763, which marked the end of the French and Indian War, and 1775, when open and violent […]
