18th Century American Individualism Essay

The eighteenth century brought countless changes for it’s present and future generations. There was a movement in the arts and literature emphasizing inspiration, subjectivity, and the primacy of the individual known as Romantic Individualism. The eighteenth century was a time of enlightenment. Scientists and philosophers posed great challenges and beliefs. People were beginning to define their highest duties rather than their spiritual ones. Population was increasing thanks to the advancement of medicine, food production, colonial goods, and technology. The Native American population was declining and forms of mercantilism (slavery) was becoming more and more of a problem. Political systems like democracy were taking effect. Religious elements and cultures were colliding, creating the melting pot known as America. As Cotton Mathers passed away in 1728 so did puritanism, which affected the influence and authority of clergyman. Religion was moving away from a god centered way of living, replaced with individual thinking. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self Reliance is a literary work from this time that captures the essence of what Romantic writers wrote about. Important figures such as Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, and John Locke highly influenced the change in the way people thought. For example, Benjamin Franklin believed in shaping one’s own destiny and self improvement. John Locke perceived that everyone was born with a blank mind.

While trying to break away from Great Britain, and find their own way of living they turned to neoclassicism. Neoclassicism is the Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome. When early national writers and artists spoke of America as a “new Rome” they usually meant it in terms of borrowing ideas as a sort of base