s belittling feelings for the criminals of the church. Another belief in the puritan culture is that god knows all, and punishes people for their wrong doings. For instance if the rain flooded the town it was god punishing the people, not that it was merely monsoon season. In the late 1600s the age of reason was in effect and a new way of thinking awoke in the minds of the people, it was labeled rationalism. Rationalism sprang about after puritanism because people wished to find a more logical explanation to the questions of everyday life. For instance more and more individuals were experimenting and examining life to figure out what caused such natural happenings. One such man was the late Benjamin Franklin. He expressed his views of rational knowledge in his writings entitled Poor Richards Almanac. One famous saying is "If a man empties his purse into his head no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest" (Franklin 95). Franklin is depicting knowledge as something you have to work for, through reason and experimentation, regardless of the amount at stake. As opposed to just relying on one dubious source as did the puritans and their omniscient god. Rationalists believe

Some common words found in the essay are:
God God, Thoreau Thoreau's, Walt Whitman, Richards Almanac, English Protestants, , Jonathan Edwards, Benjamin Franklin, odor blood,
Approximate Word count = 824
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)