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View of Deity
Unlike the believers in the English Church, these colonial protestants emphasized the God of the Old Testament, seeing themselves as Judaic-Christians. They often referred to their God as "Jehovah," the name found in the Old Testament. Accordingly, they viewed God as a "provider" who watched over them. Main sects were the Congregationalists, Presbyterians, and Quakers, all of which were more tolerant of differing views than the Puritans.
Many of the founding fathers--such as Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson--were deists. Deists see God as a "watchmaker," a creator of the universe and natural laws that is uninvolved with the day-to-day affairs of people. The separation of Church and State is established.
View of People
In the age called "The Enlightenment" or "The Age of Reason," writers and thinkers began to value reason over faith. Believers in practical living and common sense, they valued books and learning, and they were intolerant of ignorance and superstition. Viewed as essentially "good," people are free beings with natural, unalienable right which the Government has been instituted to protect. This includes the such rights as "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and the idea that "all men are created equal."
View of Society
They believed in self-government, no taxation without representation, and rights of liberty and property. All free men are citizens. A confederation of states held together by a federal Constitution is devised. The idea of self-rule has expanded to the issue of popular sovereignty: state's rights versus the national government; on the issue of slavery, moral versus economic issues.
View of Nature
Scientific thought and discovery (Newton, Franklin, Watt) began to influence this view by suggesting that nature had natural laws, that once understood, could be used for people's benefit. They developed the land as a resource for crops they could trade. The continued recognition of unlimited and untapped natural resources open to men is established. It is a time of invention and discovery.
View of Place in History
Tired of such injustices as unfair taxation, they cut ties with England and began to see themselves as Americans intent on self-government. A view that people are capable of changing history and shaping human events. After the war, the United States of America is recognized as independent of Britain. People are seen as powerful agents in changing history and shaping human events. A dilemma arises, however: isolationism versus foreign involvement.
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