16th Century Reformation: Martin Luther & John Calvin's Impact on Christianity

The protestant reformation period took place in the 16th Century in the Western Church. The leaders of reformation were Martin Luther and John Calvin. The reformation was the basis of the modern-day Protestantism, one of the major branches of Christianity today. The world in which medieval Roman Catholicism emerged was complex. The papacy, over the centuries, had become involved in the politics of Western Europe. As a result, the church became more powerful and wealthy but bankrupt in terms of spirituality. The reformation was unprecedented; while Luther attacked the church's corruption, he also addressed the theological problem. In his ninety-five thesis, he attacked the indulgence system and claimed that the doctrine of saints and merits had no foundation in the gospel. He also claimed that the pope had no power over the purgatory. The consequences of the reform period were that the idea of self-changed, and people now believed that only through the works of faith were they justified and no longer through the papacy. Also, the spiritual authority was relocated back to scripture and not the church and papacy.

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Enlightenment is a loosely organized activity for the prominent French thinkers in the eighteenth century. Enlightenment is not a historical period, but a process of psychological, social, and spiritual development, not bound by time or place. Enlightenment philosophers had a great deal of confidence in the intellectual powers of humanity; they believed that humanity, through the thinking of oneself, can be able to achieve systematic knowledge of nature and serve as a guide, which is authoritative. Rousseau began by questioning the divine right of Kings, and in his findings, he concluded that they do not receive the power from God's. Instead, Kings receive their power from the general will of the people, meaning that they can control themselves. Enlightenment thinkers also discussed democracy, the idea of equality before the law, and natural rights. The enlightenment period was characterized by profound optimism where there was a sense of reason, and many superstitions were shed. The thinkers of this period sought to understand Deism, the idea that there is God, but not the one in the Old Testament. As a consequence, there was a shift of power to self rather than in superstitions.

Romanticism was literacy and artistic movement, which originated from Europe in the 18th Century. Romanticism and counter-enlightenment emerged through a primary context of ideologies created by the French revolution. Romanticism age was fueled by the French revolution and was a reaction to the scientific classism and rationalism age of enlightenment. Romanticism was a revolt against aristocratic political and social norms of enlightenment age and the realization of nature. In the romantic period, legitimized individual imagination permitting freedom from arts, which had classical notions. During this period, the achievement of heroic artists and individuals was elevated. The romantic period stressed on freedom, individual imagination, and emotion. The period was characterized by emotional intensity and turmoil.

Short Question 2

Hannah foster describes Republican Motherhood through the Coquette, where she probes the formation of domesticity as an expose and a virtue that erupts when a woman neither practices nor embodies domestic virtues. The Coquette initiates a privatized cult of true womanhood. It is a smothered cry for equality for women. Republican Motherhood is the idea that women are equal to their husbands and possess a higher degree of equality and autonomy. A republican mother is an independent, rational, benevolent, and self-reliant woman. It is an ideology surrounding a new ideal of egalitarian marriage, which requires mutual friendship, mutual esteem, and mutual forbearance. It centers the belief that women and daughters are patriots, and they should be raised in a way that they uphold republican ideals.

Alexis de Tocqueville also traveled widely in America and made observations. He concluded that without a doubt, American women are narrowed within a circle of domestic life, and they live in extreme dependence on men. He finds that if people were to be attributed, it should be to the superiority of their women. Alexis, just like Foster, speaks against the lowly position of women in American society and insights the need for change.

Stanton viewed marriage as man-made, and it was unjust to wives. She felt that women needed to escape the hatch of divorce laws. She also took an abolitionist perspective like Fuller. She challenged republican motherhood in advocating for divorce, ending prostitution, and women's control over the frequency of sexual intercourse in marriage. Her critique of American society isolated her from the woman rights movement. On the other hand, Fuller Critiques the Republican motherhood by asserting that it was only achievable if women had the right platform independent from social prescriptions speaking against women. She criticized the status of the women comparing it to that of slaves. She recommended that higher education levels for women would emancipate them.

Long Question 3

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Whiteman, and Thoreau had many similarities from their background to how they lived. Emerson had influenced Whiteman's and Thoreau works. Thoreau was born into a privileged economic, social, and intellectual beginnings, unlike Whiteman. Whiteman's father was a carpenter who failed in business. Whiteman suffered from a lack of schooling, but he had a background in journalism. Emerson and Thoreau, on the other hand, went to Harvard. Whiteman did not join any transcendentalist groups for writers. Before 1855, he had written 24 pieces of fiction and 19 poems. He was on his own, an urban poet, and the city was his community.

Emerson had anointed Thoreau as the next great American poet, helping him publish his work and showering him with praise. Thoreau, on a rough road, preferred writing essays and gave up on poems. Upon returning to Brooklyn, Thoreau carried his copy of Leaves of Grass in Emerson's own words. Like in Whiteman's poetry, Thoreau tried to capture an American voice. Besides, Thoreau and Whiteman became Renaissance writers just like Emerson. They located an authentic voice that was not only authentic to themselves but the entire nation. Also, being born in the 1810's they loved to write about the American Revolution. Their writings were characterized by European and British literature, even though their grandfathers had overthrown the British tyranny. Most of their poems are set in Europe, which is foreign to the American ear.

Emerson's call of action to American writers requested them to strive to capture the spirit of their young-forming nation and cast of the worn tropes of the past. Whiteman, in response to this, wrote Leaves of Grass. Also, in response to this call, Thoreau wrote Walden. To a great extent, these two writers followed a similar path. They stepped down from their career paths early and followed an unconventional path.

Emerson, Thoreau, and Whiteman viewed nature as a living force that is beneficent and can be studied. If adequately studied, they believed that it could give valuable lessons to humans. The main ideas behind Thoreau's Walden and Leaves of Grass is nature. Behind these ideologies, they can construct their ideas on how to live right in the natural world. For Emerson, the natural world was perfectly ordered because it is natural. Thoreau's stance is more radical and extreme because, in his writings, he advocates for a return to nature, in the literal sense. In Civil Disobedience, he connects nature, society, and law. In Whiteman's poetry, nature served as a template for living a meaningful life, just like for Emerson and Thoreau. For him, nature aspires individualism, which he wishes for his fellow men, and he embodies too. Due to their works, they are considered transcendentalist writers due to their preoccupation with nature. They view nature as a beautiful landscape, and they also look deeply for superficial aspects of nature. They all disconnect temporarily from nature to come back and study it. What the three agree on is that the laws of man cannot govern an individual's spirit. Instead, men should look into the natural world which existed before them to find the right direction.