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The Enlightenment placed great emphasis on the individualism and secularism. For example, John Locke introduced ideas of natural rights. These natural rights were to be protected by the government, and if they were not, the people had the right to overthrow the government. For the first time, colonists were given the opportunity to have power and a say in government. Power came from the individual rather than a religious authority like it previously was before.
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 served as an empowering movement and emancipated the colonists to embrace their beliefs in equality. John Locke set a standard on the basis of people having “personal” rights (privacy), which lead to a social contract that declared that as the government protected the people's natural rights, the people would allow the government to rule. Along with that declaration, Locke also said that if the government failed to abide, the people are allowed to revolt. All in all, because the colonists believed the British government had ignored their natural rights, the assumption was that the British had violated their promise in the contract which resulted in the American Revolution. After the colonial victory at the Battle of Saratoga
His ideology discussed the rights of equality that mankind should posses, along with the organization of executive versus legislative bodies. The most important part of this statement is the right to liberty, which gives every citizen the right to be free. The Enlightenment promised ideas of democracy and other such freedoms never seen under the Crown; the Intolerable Acts that Great Britain imposed on the colonists gave enough reason for them to start their own country. After the Boston Tea
“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in huge numbers and to the sound of trumpets,” Inquired Voltaire, one of many early philosophers that inspire and helped to promote new ideas. Early philosophers helped set the stage for enlightenment. These new ideas had people questioning the church and their rule. Imagine saying that every one in the world is wrong and you are rite, early philosophers went through this every day. The enlightenment is an intellectual movement emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition, and gave philosophers a chance to express new ideas.
The Enlightenment influenced the United States education, government, and citizen's rights. The Ideas of Enlightenment began with the concept of reason. The people began to think for themselves rather than accepting what nobility or rolyalty said. The idea of separation of powers and checks and balances, proposed by montesquie, is still used today in the united states. John Locke's Natural Rights, life, liberty, and protection of property, is the foundation of the United States Constitution.
The Enlightenment made American society more egalitarian, allowing people to relate to and believe that all people are equal and deserve equal opportunities and rights. The Great Awakening emphasized emotional religiosity or a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The colonists' perceptions of government and society as a whole changed as a result, and as a result, they rebelled against England. The Enlightenment emphasized logic, reason, progress, and science in its arguments. The Great Awakening argued for Christianity across social, economic, and educational divides.
As two of the most prominent movements in American history, both the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening have had a tremendous impact of the colonists in America. The Enlightenment brought forth a ton of attention to learning and knowledge. With new ideas brewing in the European nations from the Renaissance, travelling colonists spread word very quickly which led to the Enlightment. The Enlightenment increased literacy in a big way and affected politics as well. Colinists wanted to improve their style of living, and by doing so, they needed the Enlightenment era to improve everyday life with new inventions, experiments, and theories.
Many factors caused the American Revolution, unfair British rule, lack of freedom and independence, and various economical issues. Three important events such as the Enlightenment, Great Awakening, and country ideology influenced the colonists in the years leading up to the Revolution. Considering that Great Britain was the world’s most powerful nation at the time, the colonists wanted to be completely independent from British rule. Great Britain would never release grasp of the American world unless the Colonies fought for their freedom.
The ideas of Enlightenment were for sure revolutionary. These ideas were revolutionary because leaders were influenced by the philosophers ideas such as, freedom of speech, equality, freedom of press, and religion tolerance. In the Second Treatise on government Locke said men possess the right of their lives, liberties, and possessions. The enlightenment was the central idea of many ideas from the revolution.
The Enlightenment has changed the way that nations think and conduct themselves. The American Revolution was caused by the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment. The Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment changed how people see religion, as people were more capable of reading the Bible
The events that occurred that were called the Enlightenment definitely had an effect on the American and French Revolutions. The role of the enlightenment in the French Revolution was to provide another way of thinking that questioned everything including the legitimacy of the monarchy. The role of the enlightenment in the American Revolution was to give America’s founding fathers a background knowledge for writing rules for a nation and to question Britain's rule. The Enlightenment gave the American Revolution a backbone for the nation and here is why “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights” This is from the Declaration Of Independence and it is based off an enlightenment idea from John Locke which claims that people have certain rights that cannot be taken away.
Throughout time Enlightenment has influenced many important events in history. The Enlightenment had a big influence on America. The American Enlightenment started in the eighteenth century. The Enlightenment that took place in America extended past democracy, modernity, and secularism into what was described as a cluster of
Napoleon once said, “If you wish to be a success in the world, promise everything, deliver nothing.” It seemed that he was quite good at following his word as he disappointed the Enlightenment ideas that he promised to follow. The French Revolution was a conflict for equality and new ideas between the lowest social class and the nobility which lasted for ten years from 1789 to 1799. The war mainly stemmed from new ideas that the Enlightenment inspired discussing the natural rights of man. After the bulk of the fighting and political shifts of the French Revolution, Napoleon came to power through his military prowess.
Although, the enlightenment did not led to American revolution, but heavy taxation led to the american revolution because of stamp act, boston tea party, and intolerable Act Stamp act is one of the main causes that led to American Revolution because people were forced to pay taxes on all papers that a person would owe. The tremendous debt at duration of the war made a lots of changes to british economy. The British started this act to pay off the debt of the french and indian war. After the act the colonist were outrage against the British parliament. Also, in attempt of heard the colonist began to boycott british good and forcefully used violence on those that supported the acts.
