Often time's moral code has to be broken in order to achieve success. Sometimes success has to be earned rather than inherited. .
The beliefs between the Puritans and the Enlightenment era differ greatly. The values shown in Alger's "Ragged Dick " are applicable for both era's. The beliefs and traditions of a society relate to individualism as well as community. The Puritans lived by faith and reliance on God while the Enlightenment worked based off science, logic and reason. Much of the Enlightenment theory was made of logical theories that were completely unknown earlier in time periods. In addition, Ben Franklin's autobiography demonstrates these Enlightenment views. .
Ben Franklin demonstrates the Enlightenment perspective on how to define order in your life. He used a very human centered approach to improving the individual. He gives 13 virtues needed to achieve moral perfection. Some of the important virtues were order, chastity, and temperance. He thought if the individual could master these traits would be a model citizen for the community. Franklin was more concerned for the common good and the freedom of the individual. He wanted the church to encourage the morality of the individual. In addition, the system Franklin developed was very much scientific and in support to the basis of the Enlightenment era was founded upon. .
He would say deity instead of God and agrees that a god created the world and our souls are immortal. He believed church should teach you how to be a good citizen. Being a scientist, this experiment could be reproducible if you follow these steps and achieve success. However, this was a much different viewpoint for a Puritans.
In "A Model of Christian charity, " Winthrop displays the importance of God in the community and doing what is necessary to please God. Their moral code was the dedicating their lives to God. God had a certain place for each individual in society.
