The Age of Reason

The Age of Reason was written by Thomas Paine in the 18th century. it challenged what the Bible says and critiques religion. In 1794, 1795, and 1807 it was published into three different parts. It was very popular in America and caused a deistic revival. In The Age of Reason Thomas Paine states the Bible as just an ordinary piece of literature taking away from its miraculous power. Which brings me to another point that Paine didnt even believe in miracles. The Age of Reason promotes natural religion rather than a God- based religion. Fearful of what may come of the people's faith, the british governments had forbidden anyone from printing or making copies of this book.

ben franklin info

Franklin's printing business was thriving in this 1730s and 1740s. He also started setting up franchise printing partnerships in other cities. By 1749 he retired from business and started concentrating on science, experiments, and inventions. This was nothing new to Franklin. In 1743, he had already invented a heat-efficient stove — called the Franklin stove — to help warm houses efficiently. As the stove was invented to help improve society, he refused to take out a patent. Among Franklin's other inventions are swim fins, the glass armonica (a musical instrument) and bifocals.
But Franklin thrived on work. In 1733 he started publishing Poor Richard's Almanack. Almanacs of the era were printed annually, and contained things like weather reports, recipes, predictions and homilies. Franklin published his almanac under the guise of a man named Richard Saunders, a poor man who needed money to take care of his carping wife. What distinguished Franklin's almanac were his witty aphorisms and lively writing. Many of the famous phrases associated with Franklin, such as, "A penny saved is a penny earned" come from Poor Richard.
In 1729, Benjamin Franklin bought a newspaper, the Pennsylvania Gazette. Franklin not only printed the paper, but often contributed pieces to the paper under aliases. His newspaper soon became the most successful in the colonies. This newspaper, among other firsts, would print the first political cartoon, authored by Ben himself.
During the 1720s and 1730s, the side of Franklin devoted to public good started to show itself. He organized the Junto, a young working-man's group dedicated to self- and-civic improvement. He joined the Masons. He was a very busy man socially.


source: http://www.ushistory.org/franklin/info/index.htm

2 founding fathers of the 13 original colonies.

Roger Williams.
On October 7, 1635, Roger Williams was banished from the Massachusetts Bay colony for his beliefs in the freedom of religion and the need for separation of Church and State. He was supposed to return to England but instead fled to the wilderness where he lived amongst the Narragansett Indians.
In 1636, Roger Williams founded the colony of Rhode Island on the premise of separation of church and state. This colony was the first to guarantee freedom of worship for all its citizens. Roger Williams views later became a part of the future United States prohibition against state sponsored religion.
SOURES: http://americanhistory.about.com/od/biographiessz/p/biorwilliams.htm

William Penn.
Early in 1670 Penn again fell into trouble by preaching in the street in violation of the Conventicle act. He was promptly arrested with Captain William Mead and taken before the lord-mayor, who sent them to the Old Bailey. In the remarkable trial that followed, the jury, who were kept for two days and nights without food, fire, or water, brought in a verdict of not guilty, for which each juryman was fined forty marks and sent to Newgate, while Penn and Mead were also fined and imprisoned for contempt in wearing their hats in presence of the court. Meanwhile, The influence of Penn was so great among the Indians that to be a follower of his was at all times a passport to their protection and hospitality. George Bancroft says that "while every other colony in the New World was visited in turn by the horrors of Indian warfare, no drop of Quaker blood was ever shed by a red man in Pennsylvania." Penn then devoted himself to his duties as governor, and made treaties with other Indian tribes.
SOURCE: http://www.williampenn.org/