The Fall of the Puritan Writers and the Rise of New Thought

Benjamin Franklin marked the beginning of a new belief system. Until he began to write in 1771, Puritan authors wrote about living life in a God fearing way. Ben Franklin began to branch off in his own direction of writing. He believed that the power to live a good life comes from within. He wrote behind many personas and began to formulate the belief in the self-made man. He included God in his writing so as to gain a wider audience. He believed that hardwork and virtues would perfect himself, so he wrote an autobiography in the form of a "how to" manual for his son. He was a Puritian in the way he did intensive self examination, but through his opportunites and hard work, he created a successful, satifying life for himself. He established a list of virtues that if a person commited to perfecting them, they could lead a humble, fullfilling life. This man was not God fearing like the other Puritan authors. He was in my opinion genius. He included God in the writings in order to recruit more people to read his new ideals. He was able to impact society and begin to give individuals strength at creating their own life (self-made man) which paved the way to the American Dream. He marked the turning point for the power of the individual. All one has to do is work hard and take opportunities while perfecting one's self to end up at the desitination of success.