Reflection Blog: Rationalism

Patrick Henry is probably one of the most superlative examples of the Rationalism Period. This is a time when people begin to use logic and reason instead of emotion. It is a quick-setting contrast to "The Crucible". "The Crucible" was the exact opposite of logic. It was people of a theocracy acting on religion and emotion, and causing harm to others either for pleasure or to get themselves out of danger. Patrick Henry faces a much more noble cause, and he truly goes about it in an unparalleled manner. He was an impactful man who could only be rivaled or juxtaposed by someone like Thomas Paine, the author of "Common Sense". Both of these men were working toward the same thing. They wanted revolution, and they presented cases that could not be refuted because their writings and ideas just made sense. They were logical, reasonable, and also practical. Paine’s take on the revolution was so powerful in "Common Sense" that it is often considered the most important piece of literature proposing the idea of a revolution against Britain (Reill and Wilson). Of course Henry’s oratorical and written speeches were important, especially in his saying “Give me liberty, or give me death!” which still resonates in modern times as an important speech (Henry 118) Most people have at least heard that said before, but there is much more preceding it. He says that no one is more of a patriot than he is, and that it is not a question of having control or being controlled, but it is a question of freedom or slavery (Henry 116-117). He reiterates that there are many things that he will not do that he would consider treasonous. It would be treasonous, he says, to hold back his opinions (Henry 117). One of his main points is that people need to realize that Britain is restraining them. There military is not there for anything else, but to control these Americans. After he has made it clear that Britain is the enemy, he says that they need to do something because the same unnintervening attempts are not doing anything (Henry 117). His ideas directly appeal to people’s logic. It is a speech about using sense to handle this situation of revolution. When it comes to rationalism or deism there is no one equivalent to Thomas Paine. In "The Age of Reason" he basically slanders Christianity and denounces many of the miracles it is revolved around (Reill and Wilson). Paine used reason to go about this, and it was so slanderous that it was banned from England. In the second part of "The Age of Reason" he focuses on the Bible, and after this he was accused of Atheism (Reill and Wilson). His idea was to scientifically explain the impossibilities of certain religious ideas, and in doing so he was not accepted so easily. His story was an example logic being persecuted by religion. Although this was a time of Rationalism, it still had its troubles in some places.

Henry, Patrick. “Speech to the Second Virginia Convention.” Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm, Ph.D. and Douglas Fisher, Ph.D. Glencoe Literature. American Literature ed. Columbus: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2009. 116-118. Print.

Reill, Peter Hanns, and Ellen Judy Wilson. "The Age of Reason." Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2004. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.