Connection between Historical Periods Literature

Running head: HISTORICAL PERIODS
HISTORICAL PERIODS
Name of the Student
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Author Note

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Statement of Purpose
This particular essay shall be providing the connection between four chosen
pieces of literature, Francis Bacon’s The Novum Organum, Martin Luther King
Jr’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, James Madison’s Federalists No. 10 and Thomas
Hobbes’ The Leviathan. All the pieces of literature have been chosen from the
period of modernity and the works reflect the influence of the Enlightenment
Philosophy.
Francis Bacon: The Novum Organum
The Novum Organum by Francis Bacon is a treaties which deals with the issue of science
and rationality in finding the answer to the questions pertaining to humankind and the resolving
of their dilemmas. The Novum Organum is a means by which Bacon has conveyed his corrective
measures to rectify the way in which his contemporaries carried forward the task of conducting
scientific enquiries. Bacon had opined in the book that his contemporaries had adopted an
approach of looking towards the world and the nature through the application of scientific
principles, and on the basis of it he had put forward his idea of embarking upon the inductive
approach in order to follow the correct procedure of scientific enquiry. The inductive approach
which he had talked about consisted of conducting thorough observations, experiments and
researches in order to arrive at the correct scientific knowledge which shall be objective in
nature. The method which he had embarked upon was very much oriented towards the
segregation of the facts from the knowledge owing to the premise that knowledge might be

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unfounded and might not have a credible basis to testify its validity but facts always have the
backing of logic and has a credible basis which can be testified and objectively applied. Thus
that is why the inductive approach is the ideal method of carrying out scientific enquiry as per
Bacon.
Martin Luther King Jr.: Letter from Birmingham Jail
The ‘Letter from Birmingham Jail’ by Martin Luther King Jr. is a personal memoir of his
in which he had penned down the injustices hurled upon him and his compatriots for rising in
protest against the American Government for their discriminatory approach towards the negroes.
The crime for which Martin Luther King Jr. had been imprisoned in Birmingham was for
participating and championing a mass demonstration meant for protesting against the policy of
segregation which was aimed at further marginalization of the Negroes who were already
marginalized. The demonstration had been aimed at conveying an opposition to the caution
imposed by a panel consisting of eight Christian religious leaders of white origin against the
people of Black origin, or the Negroes. Apart from that the aim was to launch a non violent
movement against racism that was carried out in the state of Alabama. The letter had a religious
undertone to it as it was reminiscent of the journey of Apostle Paul after he had left his village,
Tarsus and had been carrying the gospel of Jesus Christ along with him, which symbolized the
fight against injustice. The demonstrations despite being peaceful on the basis of following the
steps, testifying whether the injustices persisted, negotiations, self purification and then
embarking upon direct actions, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and the Christian clergy had
been responsible for it who were cautious about his presence in Birmingham even before the
staging of the protest.