How a forgotten eighteenth-century textbook helped forge the American identity and its founding documents

Ideas & Philosophy · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Before the American Revolution, a specific brand of moral philosophy swept through colonial colleges. Developed by Samuel Johnson, this American Practical Idealism shaped the minds of the Founding Fathers. It bridged the gap between old Puritan traditions and new Enlightenment ideas, ultimately defining the pursuit of happiness for a nation.

In the mid-eighteenth century, American intellectual life underwent a profound transformation. While early colonial thought was dominated by the rigid Puritan theology of Harvard and Yale, the arrival of new books from England in 1714 introduced the works of Locke, Newton, and Descartes. Samuel Johnson, a Yale graduate who became the first important philosopher in colonial America, synthesized these influences into a framework he called American Practical Idealism. By rejecting Calvinist predestination in favor of free will and natural rights, Johnson created a moral philosophy that aimed to be universally acceptable across denominations.

Johnson’s influence was remarkably pervasive. Between 1743 and 1776, it is estimated that half of all American college students were exposed to his ideas through his seven-volume textbook series, Elementa Philosophica. This curriculum was taught at institutions like King’s College and the University of Pennsylvania, reaching the very generation that would lead the American Revolution. His work directly connected to the Committee of Five, as three of its members—Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman—had close ties to Johnson. Even the language of the Declaration of Independence reflects this shift, as Thomas Jefferson famously adapted Locke’s natural rights of life, liberty, and property into the iconic pursuit of happiness.

While Johnson’s idealism flourished, it existed alongside other powerful intellectual currents, such as the Reformed theology of Jonathan Edwards. Edwards, an associate of George Whitefield, utilized Enlightenment concepts to defend the absolute sovereignty of God, sparking the First Great Awakening. Despite their theological differences, both men were instrumental in forging a new intellectual culture. By the time the Founding Fathers debated the Constitution, they were drawing upon a complex blend of Puritan providentialism, Scottish Enlightenment thought, and the practical, moral philosophy that had been refined in American classrooms for decades. This intellectual foundation provided the necessary tools for the Founders to balance power, define individual rights, and establish a new republican government.

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