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(2014
midterm assignment) Sample Student Midterm Answers 2014 #2b: Short Essay (Favorite Term) |
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Cristen Lauck
Why is the Enlightenment so Enlightening?
From the beginning of this semester, I have been so excited to learn about the
Enlightenment. I initially was unfamiliar with the term but was very intrigued
once I learned that it was a shift in philosophy that focused heavily on reason
and logic. Personally, I am very analytical and I try to think through things
logically, so naturally I was interested in why there was a shift in scientific
thought. Perhaps we will never completely know the reason for this change in
ideas but I could see the difference after reading Benjamin Franklin’s “Remarks
Concerning the Savages of North America”. Interestingly, this is also my
favorite writer from the first half of the semester.
I could see the change in Franklin’s attitude toward the Native Americans when
he tells the story about the Missionary and Native American’s telling each other
their own creation stories. When the Indian in the story says that “we who
understand and practice those Rules, believe all your stories: why do you refuse
to believe our” (12), I was amazed and thought to myself that that is a very
good question. Why should the Indians believe the Missionaries’ stories when the
Missionaries refuse to understand the Indians’ tales? I was also amazed that
Franklin could write something so controversial without being chastised by his
fellow countrymen. It was very controversial because it is a major shift away
from the traditional belief of the Europeans that the Christian God is the
“true” god and all others are false and their believers, heathens.
We see this traditional European mentality in Columbus’ letters when he writes
that the Indians “have no religion, no idolatry, except that they all believe
power and goodness to be in heaven” and that he tried to “induce them to become
Christians, and to love and serve their highnesses” (1.5). Here, Columbus is
saying that the Native Americans didn’t have a god and that he tried to give
them the “true” religion. Unlike Franklin, Columbus fails to see that the Native
Americans actually do have a religious history with their own creation stories
and there is no reason for the Europeans to believe that their spiritual beliefs
are false. This mistaken belief by Columbus goes unchecked until the
Enlightenment and similarly, later settlers also believed the Indians were
godless heathens and this mentality doesn’t change until the introduction of
philosophers like Benjamin Franklin.
It is also interesting to see how this change in mentality has carried over into
modern day American. This is what Americans strive for now. To understand and
respect each other instead of believing a particular way is the only way. I
think there is still a shift away from the mentality that we have all the
answers because it is written in the Bible in favor of a more scientific belief
that we do not understand everything and that there is more to be discovered. I
believe people now are much more open to alternative beliefs based on reason and
logic and less on blindly believing what you are told, specifically by the
church or Bible. I think modern Americans are also more open to other religions
and spiritual beliefs and think more logically about the world around them, much
like Benjamin Franklin.
