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"Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God"
Jonathan Edwards, in Enfield, CT, used vivid imagery to describe the torments of Hell and God’s wrath with sinners. he hoped to inspire an emotional response of the audience. Reactions to the sermon were strong. We are told that Edwards could not finish the sermon on that day with the continuous cries of despair and weeping. This sermon is an example of emotional writing.
http://edwards.yale.edu/archive?path=aHR0cDovL2Vkd2FyZHMueWFsZS5lZHUvY2dpLWJpbi9uZXdwaGlsby9nZXRvYmplY3QucGw/Yy4yMTo0Ny53amVv -
"A Discourse concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to the Higher Powers"
Jonathan Mayhew delivered this sermon to his congregation in Boston, MA on January 30, 1750. On this occasion, the centenary of the execution of Charles I of England, he reminds his audience that while resistance to good governance is prohibited in the Bible, tolerance of bad governance would be an offense to God’s divine authority. In this sermon, He uses rationalism, an Enlightenment principle, to justify resistance to civil authority. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/etas/44/ -
"Common Sense"
Thomas Paine, writing anonymously at the time in Philadelphia, PA, published a pamphlet in January entitled “Common Sense.” In this essay, Paine makes a rational argument to justify the rebellious emotions of the time, urging for an immediate break with Great Britain. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/147/147-h/147-h.htm -
"Declaration of Independence"
In the summer 1776, in Philadelphia, PA, the Second Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Independence, written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, espousing John Locke’s ideals to justify the powerful emotions of tyrannical exploitation felt by many of the colonists. https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript -
"Federalist Papers"
James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay turned to rational ideals to justify the proposed Constitution. Writing a series of essays, which appeared in New York newspapers in 1787 and 1788, these men explained the rational framework of the Constitution. In many ways, the U.S. Constitution and the Federalist Papers are the culmination of Enlightenment political theory—a government designed by rational thought. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1404/1404-h/1404-h.htm -
"The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin"
First published in France, this work detailed the life of the Enlightened man in America, and he served as an example of the ideal American citizen, not only in terms of the typical rags to riches story of the “American Dream,” but also in the pursuit of moral improvement. The new Enlightened American government could not ask for a better archetype of the desired Enlightened American citizen than Benjamin Franklin.
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20203/20203-h/20203-h.htm
