~The Underwear of the Enlightenment Period~ ;)

The shift, chemise (in France), or smock, had a low neckline and elbow-length sleeves which were full early in the period and became increasingly narrow as the century progressed. Drawers were not worn in this period.

The long-waisted, heavily boned stays of the early 1740's with their narrow back, wide front, and shoulder straps gave way by the 1760s to strapless stays which still were cut high at the armpit, to encourage a woman to stand with her shoulders slightly back, a fashionable posture. The fashionable shape was a rather conical torso, with large hips. The waist was not particularly small. Stays were usually laced snugly, but comfortably; only those interested in extreme fashions laced tightly. They offered back support for heavy lifting, and poor and middle class women were able to work comfortably in them.   

Free-hanging pockets were tied around the waist and were accessed through pocket slits in the side-seams of the gown or petticoat.

Woolen or quilted waistcoats were worn over the stays or corset and under the gown for warmth, as were petticoats quilted with wool batting, especially in the cold climates of Northern Europe and America.

Fashion of the Enlightenment Period!!

Fashion in the years 1750–1775 in European countries and North America was characterised by greater abundance, elaboration and intricacy in clothing designs, loved by the Rococo artistic trends of the period. The French and English styles of fashion were very different from one another. French style was defined by elaborate court dress, colourful and rich in decoration, worn by such iconic fashion figures as Marie Antoinette After reaching their maximum size in the 1750s, hoop skirts began to reduce in size, but remained being worn with the most formal dresses, and were sometimes replaced with side-hoops, or panniers. Hairstyles were equally elaborate, with tall headdresses the distinctive fashion of the 1770s. For men, waistecoasts and breeches of previous decades continued to be fashionable. English style was defined by simple practical garments, made of inexpensive and durable fabrics, catering towards a leisurely outdoor lifestyle. These lifestyles were also portrayed through the differences in portraiture. The French preferred indoor scenes where they could demonstrate their affinity for luxury in dress and lifestyle. The English, on the other hand, were more "egalitarian" in tastes, thus their portraits tended to depict the sitter in outdoor scenes and pastoral attire.

The Great Awakenning: George Whitefield

 

  The Great Awakening during the Enlightenment period occurred in the early 1700s. This was when the people began to differentiate from the views of the church. In England and America the people began questioning the church and its role. Many broke away from the churches and formed new ones because of this. Others began preaching what they believed and one man specifically became highly demanded for his incredible preaching skills. George Whitefield became an important figure that helped expand the Great Awakening. He gave his first sermon in his hometown and in 1737 he traveled to Georgia to help an Orphan House. A year later he went back to England and in 1739 he traveled back to America. His fame became evident when he went to Philadelphia to preach and thousands of people rushed to hear his sermons. At the young age of 25 he was known as “the boy preacher.” His sermons became so popular that his audience would reach 20,000 to 30,000 people. Benjamin Franklin also noticed what an impressive preacher Whitefield was when he wrote in his journal that everywhere he went Psalms were sung. Franklin wrote “it seemed as if all the world were growing religious” (Cauchi) in his journal. When Whitefield first arrived in America he saw some potential in expanding the religious environment, but it still lacked the knowledge of Christ. He went on to open people’s minds with his revivals. This movement eventually gained enough support to have a school open up in support of the revivals in 1741. This school became known as Princeton. It was opposed at first by the faculty at Harvard and Yale, but with all the backing that the revivalisms received they could not prevent from Princeton to be established. George Whitefield had impacted an immense amount of people’s lives and had converted many more.

 

Works Cited

Cauchi, Tony . "The First Great Awakening in America - George Whitefield." Revival Library.            Electronic Copyright, n.d. Web. 27 Nov 2012.

"Some Figures of the Great Awakening." Great Awakening: Analysis and Information on the First Great Awakening. In Association with Amazon. Web. 27 Nov 2012.

-Ana Juan

Jefferson's Bible

The American Enlightenment saw a movement away from the traditional religious views of the past and towards a more reasonable and logical view of the world. One of the best examples of this idea comes from one of America’s Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson. Late in Jefferson’s life, he began to create his own version of the Bible which he titled “The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth” (Posten). He was attempting to create a more coherent story that allowed the four Gospels to flow together. However, Jefferson decided to leave out all mention of Jesus’ miracles and anything that suggested the supernatural. Jefferson was trying to portray “Jesus as a teacher, but having nothing to do with the divine or as a prophet with a  link to the divine” (Posten).

Jefferson’s Bible exemplifies the main idea of the Enlightenment. Being a Deist, Jefferson believed in a deity that created the world then left it to its own devices. He only saw Jesus as a man that could not perform miracles. Taking a scientific approach, Jefferson could not understand the miracles described in the Bible with logic and reason, so he felt he had to disregard them.

Jefferson’s Bible was kept secret and passed to his relatives for nearly one hundred years before finally being discovered by a librarian at the Smithsonian (Discovery). The Bible was then published a few years later and made available to the public. The original copy is kept at the Smithsonian but has recently been on display at the National Museum of American History. The Smithsonian has customarily given a copy of Jefferson’s Bible to new members of Congress.

Works Cited

"How Did the "Jefferson Bible" Get Published? - Curiosity." Curiosity. DiscoveryChannel, n.d. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/how jefferson-bible-get-published>.

Posten, Bruce. "The Story behind Thomas Jefferson's Refashioned Bible." Reading Eagle RSS. Reading Eagle Press, 2 July 2011. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. <http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=317728>.

- Koty Morgan

John & Abigail Adams

On October 25, 1764, Abigail Smith and John Adams were married. The two remained the closest of friends until Abigail's death more than fifty years later. While Abigail had no formal education, John went to Harvard and graduated in 1755. 

Abigail's lack of a formal education did not hold her back, however. She grew up in her grandmother's home, where she had informal instruction. She was not a great speller, but given her intelligence, easy access to her father's library, and ability to pick up on conversations, she was easy to mistake as educated.

 In 1774, John Adams was elected as a Massachusetts delegate to the First Congress of Colonies, which later became known as the First Continental Congress. Over the course of their relationship and marriage, over one thousand letters were exchanged between the couple. More than three hundred of them written from the time that Adams left Massachusetts in 1774, until he returned in 1783. They saved the letters, which were later published by their grandson and provided a record of a long and happy marriage. A few of the letters are available in our textbook, beginning on page 626. 

Here is a link to a video: John Adams: A Life in Letters. The video goes more into detail of the letters written by Adams. 

Adams, John, and Abigail Adams. "John and Abigail Adams." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. By Nina Baym and Robert S. Levine. 8th ed. Vol. A. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2012. 625-39. Print.

-Jessica Mize

American Literature from 1700-1800

As many know, the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening were milestones in American history, as Americans began to focus more on the arts and the ability of the human mind. Below is a timeline and brief description of the most important works of the time. 

In 1693, Cotton Mather published The Wonders of the Invisible World. In this, Mather begins to bridge the gap between Puritanism and the Enlightenment with his work with Martha Carrier. It isn't until his death, however, in 1728, that America fully moves into the Enlightenment. 

In 1710, Cotton Mather published his book, Bonifacius (Essays to Do Good). This book was very influential to Benjamin Franklin, who becomes one of the most influential writers of this time.

In 1732, Benjamin Franklin begins publishing Poor Richard's Almanac, which was published yearly until 1758. Franklin wrote this under the pseudonym Richard Saunders, and he considered it a service to the American people, hoping to spark an interest in the intellectual.

In 1741, Jonathan Edwards writes Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, which becomes one of the most influential sermons of the Great Awakening. 

From 1771-1790, Benjamin Franklin writes his Autobiography. Part 1 was not published until 1818. This piece begins a new type of biography, called the auto-American biography. In this type of biography, the author self-consciously creates an image of himself as the "ideal American", and is most commonly a rags-to-riches story. Sarah Palin is considered a modern-day auto-American biographer.

In 1776, Thomas Paine published the first pamphlet in America, Common Sense. Common Sense was the beginning to the American Revolution, as it urged the colonists to fight back against the English rule. 

All of these works are studied in American Literature classes today because they offer insight to our past, and tell us how we got to where we are today. 


Works Cited:
"Brief Timeline of American Literature and Events: 1700-1799." Washington State University Library. Washington State University, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2012. <http://public.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/1751.htm>.
Baym, Nina, and Robert S. Levine. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2012. Print.

-Jessica Mize

Neoclassicism in American Literature

According to Merriam Webster, neoclassicism is "of,  relating to, or constituting a revival or adaptation of the classical especially in literature, music, art, or architecture". In America, neoclassicism was a movement based on the interest in the art and culture of ancient Greece and Rome. In the late 1700s and early 1800s, America was in search of a model for their new government, and turned to the Roman Republic and ancient Greece. A Republic is a government run by the people, and this was first done in Ancient Rome. Americans were hoping that his type of government would prevail. 

An example of Neoclassicism in our reading was in Phillis Wheatley's "To His Excellency General Washington. In this poem, she addresses General George Washington in a letter and includes a poem she has written about him in all of his glory. Wheatley begins the poem with, "Celestial choir!", which is actually a device of Neoclassicism. Celestial Choir is a muse, which in Neoclassical pieces, writers would call upon a muse to inspire writing. Wheatley continues the Neoclassical pattern when she refers to America as "Columbia". She depicts a goddess, "she moves divinely fair, Olive and laurel binds her golden hair", triumphantly leading the country in battle. She goes on to depict General Washington as a God, maybe even similar to Zeus. 

These types of references, to muses, Gods, and Goddesses, would typically be used in ancient Greek literature, and are examples of how we used Neoclassicism in the beginning of our life as an independent country. Neoclassical images are still prevalent in our government today. For example, the White House and Capitol Building in Washington DC. These buildings were designed by Thomas Jefferson and used common images from ancient Greece and Rome of the pillars and symmetrical shapes.

-Jessica Mize

Works Cited:

"Introduction." Poetry for Students. Vol. 13. Gale Cengage, .eNotes.com. 22 Oct, 2012 <http://www.enotes.com/his-excellency/>

"Neoclassic." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/neoclassicism>.

Wheatley, Phillis. "To His Excellency General Washington." The Norton Anthology of American Literature. By Nina Baym and Robert S. Levine. 8th ed. Vol. A. New York: W. W. Norton &, 2012. 772-73. Print.