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How enlightenment influenced american government
The influence of enlightenment on American society
The influence of enlightenment on American society
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Throughout the American Revolution the colonists in America wrote many documents to declare their independence and establish the United States as a sovereign country. Despite the fact that they are all great, the US Constitution is the most influenced by the Enlightenment. The Constitution had countless ideas that express this. For instance in the first three articles (I- Legislative, II-Executive, III-Judiciary) the Founding Fathers made sure that the new government had separation of powers.
Enlightenment Influence on American Government and Revolution The Enlightenment era was around the 18th century. A time where many different philosophers imputed many of their own thoughts and beliefs on religion, human rights, the government and other important situations involving our country today. Many figures associated with the Enlightenment were, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Voltaire, Baron Montesquieu, and Beccaria, to name a few.
The Enlightenment was a European movement that emphasized reason and respect for humanity. Enlightenment thinkers thought reason could solve humanity’s problems and the literature created by these Europeans greatly influenced educated Americans, including founding fathers such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Much of Enlightenment thought surrounded politics and how a proper political system should be structured. John Locke was an Englishman would argued that the state was obligated to grant natural, human rights to the people it governed. He wrote in his Two Treatises on Government that these rights included “life, liberty, and property.”
The Enlightenment thinkers changed the way common people viewed government. Before the 17th century, governments acted with impunity. While rebellions had happened prior to the 17th century, they usually consisted of fewer than 1,000 troops
(Q4) As a scholar in 1789, looking at the United States Constitution I would see many ideas from the Enlightenment. There would be ideas from both Thomas Hobbes and John Locke reflected within the document. There are parts in the Constitution that explain how to build a powerful government to maintain control and keep the people in line. Thomas Hobbes believed that a strong government was a necessity. There are also parts that reflect classical liberalism however, which pushed for individualism and the government only having power that people allow it to have.
As a democratic-republican, Jefferson was very supportive of the French Revolution, which embodied the very ideals within the American Revolution. He also fought for a weak federal government, which coincided with the philosophies of Enlightenment thinker, John Locke, who believed that the government was obliged to serve people, by protecting life, liberty, and property. With a weak government or rather a smaller bureaucracy, the government could be controlled by the governed by putting more power into the state’s hands and individualizing the law and order of the United States. Because Jefferson was so confident in the human rationale and the good character of men, the enlightenment ideals fit perfectly into the administration, diverging from a large, monarchial society and revisiting the ideals of the consent of the
During this time period, the influence of Enlightenment had overpower some of the most important values of the church and absolute monarch. Thomas’s Paine’s Common Sense document illustrates many keys that Enlightenment thinkers were influenced by. In the document, one of the idea that he wrote about was the government system and how everything was structured in an unfair approach. The key example of how Enlightenment thinking influenced the unfairness of the government is the freedom and the rights of individuals by God’s desires. Like it was mentioned in the text, “Society in every state is a blessing, but Government …is but a necessary evil” (Paine, pg 69).
The Enlightenment thinkers also influenced us with their intelligence and discoveries. It is also believed that the failures of the Articles of Confederation influenced the United States Constitution because the founding fathers did not want for their government to fail, like it did with the articles. Without the influences of the United States Constitution, the United States government today would not be the same. For example without the United States Constitution, marriage rights could be denied to same sex couple, we would have our democratic right to vote for a president every 4 years, and etc. None of these things would have existed if it were not for the influences of the United States Constitution.
The ideas of the Enlightenment influenced the American Revolution and the formation of the American Government. Firstly, The Enlightenment was a philosophical evolution that emphasized the aged ideas of the Greeks and Romans. In addition, the major philosophers of this time period were Voltaire, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Rousseau, Adam Smith and Isaac Newton. Their ideals include having an absolute monarch as a government (T.H), the separation of powers (Mont.), the government should not interfere with a free market economy (A.S), the freedom of speech (Volt.), the government could be overruled (J.L), and the government should rule according to the will of the people. Nevertheless, these ideals are important because they shaped the government that we have today.
Enlightened thought presented by Locke outlined the formation for a new government that served the people of the nation, restoring their rights and liberties, rather than just the
During the Enlightenment new ideas were created that greatly impacted society. The new ideas created during the Enlightenment impacted society so much that many of the ideas were utilized when forming the government of the United States. Three European men Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau each had their own unique views of what would be best for society. Each philosopher had ideas that would make today 's society more ideal and with hard work are possible to achieve.
The National assembly was able to win and abolish the feudal privileges of the nobility and the clergy. Enlightenment has helped create a new era for the French of liberty, equality, and fraternity (The French Revolution
Jefferson is also once again seen as a contributor of this idea in his writing of the Declaration of Independence stating “all men are created equal.” Differences between the colonies and Europe on this idea were completely different in that the Kings and Monarchy used Christian doctorines to sustain their rule over their kingdoms. The third idea was that central government threatened polity and that a central government possessed too much power over man and many patriots rejected that notion and believed in a divided government unlike old European ways where there political theory was that god entitled political sovereignty to the Monarch’s rule. The fourth point that both deist and evangelicals believed was a cause of the revolution was the lack of virtue the English Government had shown.
The Age of Enlightenment; a time of reasoning and decisions that forms the balance between people and government seen today. From the 1600s to the late 1700s, philosophers began to ponder as to why government was such a structural piece in civilizations. Some believed that it was a necessity; to keep order, peace, and safety but this could only occur if freedoms were taken in exchange, thus becoming known as social contract. Yet others claimed that government was only there to protect the rights of the people, that it should not hold much sway in the life of citizens.
Throughout history, there have been many contributors that have shaped the U.S. Government into what it is today. John Locke brought the ideas of Tabula Rasa. Voltaire brung the thoughts of Deism. And Montesquieu gave the idea of Separation of Powers. These were just three of the many people that helped develop and change the U.S. Government.
