9. Refer to Document Philip Reading Warns. According to Protestant Minister Philip Reading, what horrors and dangers did French Catholics pose to America?

With the increasing spread of Catholic faith in North America, which was dominated by Protestants, the protestant ministers including Philip became concerned and feeling ‘threatened.’ According to Philip reading, he warns that one of the dangers that French Catholics pose to America is that the religion is determined to destroy things that are sacred and holly. “Efforts destructive of every things sacred and good….”. (Philip Reading Warns). He also warns that Catholics are oppressive and that their beliefs are excessively credulous and irrational. According to Philip, such believes should not be given even a slight chance to establish their tyranny to in America, for protestant has brought a light of Gospel to American land, evicting false paganism believes and erecting churches that worship the true God. Besides, Philip warns that French Catholics do not deserve to be called Christians for their religion is corrupt, and it believes based and determined to contempt the strong faith and strong faith that protestants have impacted to the people of America. According to him, the French Catholics are not based on principles of Christian faith, but their main concern is expanding borders, condemning protestant faith and crushing them, and that the French Catholics do not deserve to be called Christians. ‘Yet contemptible as its Appearance was, confined tho’ its Limits, such the restless Temper of its Advocates, that no practicable Arts have, from Time to Time, been left unessayed for the Enlargement of its Borders.” (Philip Reading Warns). He also warns that the French Catholics do not preach the light of Gospel as protestants do, and refers them as Popish dogs of hell and that Americans should be prepared to defend their native rights cited in Hearts and Hands, with the help of Wealth and Strength in their power.

7. Refer to Document: American Champions of the Enlightenment. What was the enlightenment and in what ways did Benjamin Franklin epitomize the enlightenment as a citizen of Philadelphia and intellectual of America? What was Newtonianism?

According to the document, Enlightenment was a way of supporting and vigorously defending through prove and enhancement the work of Sir Isaac Newton, the great English Scientist, and Mathematician who explored the laws of motion, optics, and gravity (American Champions of the Enlightenment ). Franklin was a symbol of American enlightenment and epitomized the enlightenment through his scientific experiments with lightning and electricity. Through his scientific experiments and discoveries, he was able to theorize the possibility of creating a battery for storing electricity and described this by coining the positive and negative to present the nature of electric current. After demonstrating that lightning was a form of electric current,  he went ahead and developed a lightning rod, a device that was used to conduct electric current of lightning safely away from American homes, hence helping Citizens of Philadelphia get a shield from destructive effects of lightning. John Adams wrote, ” nothing perhaps that ever  occurred upon this earth was well calculated to give the man any extensive and universal celebrity as the discovery of ….lightning rods.” (American Champions of the Enlightenment).In addition, Franklin was one of the co-founders of Ameican Philosophical society which was formed in the year 1743, with the aim of taking the role of knowledge advancement. He also helped found organizations such as fire company and first public hospital in colonies to improve the lives of the Philadelphians. Besides, he helped information of College of Philadelphia, in 1751, which later grew to University of Pennsylvania and Private company (American Champions of the Enlightenment). Newtonian is Newton’s approach for explaining the existence of nature that focused on visible world nature rather than the invisible world of supernaturals, as depicted by Salem witchcraft accusations or by religion, and that used interpretations based on reason.

8. Refer to Document: Benjamin Franklin, America’s Future in the Empire. According to Franklin what was America’s future in the British Empire? What significant points does he present in his belief of a firm union between colonies and empire?

 According to Franklin, America’s future in the empire was to have more rights as a colony, receive parliamentary representations and unite with Great Britain for the common good of all. To put forward the idea of union between the colonies and the British empire more vividly and robustly, he backs it with points that in his opinion support the union. First, he states that the union would make the colonies consider themselves as not belonging to different communities but one, hence leading lessening the danger of future reparation, because the union would eliminate any conflict of interest between the colonies and the empire. ( Benjamin Franklin; America’s Future in the Empire). He also argue that since the colonies are from different parts of the world, and areas with different climatic conditions, the unity between the colonies and the empire would result into diverse production and access to resources that would lead to increased trade and more growth of the colonies, and because they are connected to the sea, transport of materials and resources would be more efficient, as opposed to when they are not united. “…Now I look them  as so many countries gained by Great Britain, and more advantageous to it, than if they had been gone out of the sea around the coasts; for being different climates, they afford a greater variety of produce and materials for more manufacturers …”  Also, unity will ensure that stay and future of any person from either the colony or the empire are safe in any country, as failure to unite, though accumulates wealth to the empire, risks the life of the people living in the new countries when their lives and private fortunes should attract a preference. The union will benefit not only the colonies but also the Britsh people living in the new countries, through their representation, which is fair enough and reducing hardships. Therefore it will be like a union of the British empire with its people in the new countries.

2. Refer to Documents: Benjamin Franklin, Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind and Gordon Wood, Franklin’s Vision of the New World. What did Franklin envision for the future of Pennsylvania? What type of ethnic composition did Franklin envision for the future of Pennsylvania? How did he defend his observations regarding race and ethnicity in Pennsylvania?

Franklin envisioned an exponential growth in population especially in the British colonies, such that in a century, a large number of English men will be on the Side of Water, leading to an increase in the power of England. This population would double every 25 years. (Benjamin Franklin; Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind ). According to Franklin, the ethnic composition in the next century would have changed, and now Pennsylvania would be composed of more Germans that the English people and the total composition would be Germans who would be the majority race English people and Americans. “Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a colony of Aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Anglifying them, and will never adopt our language or customs, any more than they can acquire our complexion?” (Benjamin Franklin; Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind).  Franklin envisioned that there would be an increase in the population of Germans in Pennsylvania leading to change in the racial dominance in the colony that was once for the  English, and not only the Germans but also other racial groups such as the blacks and the Asian will also be part of the colony. To defend his observation about his envisioned change in the race and ethnicity in the Pennsylvania, Franklin argued on the basis of immigration America’s unutilized land, ascertaining that immigration r would result in influx of a large number of Germans who he referred to as the white race while America’s fertile and unutilized land would attract more marriages and immigration. This is more because the birth limits in America did not exist as the did in German, and therefore the high populous Germans would find their way to Amerian, making the majority in the English colonies such as Pennsylvania. “Why should the Palatine Boors be suffered to swarm into our settlements, and by herding together establish their languages and manners to the exclusion of ours?”(Benjamin Franklin; Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind ).

References

Benjamin Franklin, America’s Future in the Empire

Benjamin Franklin. American Champions of the Enlightenment.

Founders Online: Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, 1751. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-04-02-0080

Philip. (1755). An Anglican Minister Warns Of the French Catholic Peril in North America.