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How Did The Enlightenment Influence The American Revolution

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The influence of the enlightenment on the American Revolution In 1607, Great Britain established their first colony on today’s Virginia. Great Britain continuously increased number of North America colonies; in 1754, number of colonies was as much as 13. To increase number of colonies, Great Britain fought numerous wars, won most of the wars and became one of the most powerful nations in the world at that time. How dare only 13 colonies could stand up to unfair treatment and various kinds of taxes payment? However even a worm will turn, in 1755 on the increasing exploitation of Great Britain, citizen of 13 colonies eventually opposed against Great Britain and caused American independent war, also called American Revolution. There are numerous …show more content…

In 1789, USA became the first democratic country, with president, George Washington, who chosen by United States citizens. At a word, the American Revolution succeeds in creating stable government. However one revolution that happened in 1789 and had many similarities with American Revolution, not really succeeded compare to American Revolution is French Revolution. They both had one important similarity, which was they both influenced by the idea of Enlightenment, especially all men are equal and has natural rights from births. In addition, two revolutions are both caused by people who stood up against absolute monarchy. Then how could American Revolution accomplished more than French revolution? This is because, unlike French, Americans fought against the Great Britain to defend, preserve and return their natural (traditional) rights, which were originally theirs before the Great Britain colonized the land. On the other hand, French tried to change their already stabled government into government based on equality, liberty and fraternity, which is not existed at first (also called abstraction). Therefore it might be not as easy as change not stabled government into stabled

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The American revolution inspired the French revolution by providing a blueprint on how to run a nation as a democracy. It was also an inspiration for the French because it gave them hope they could defeat a major military power. Enlightenment ideas inspired the French revolution because they made people want basic human rights and ways to run their new government. The estate system inspired the French revolution because 97% of the population that was being abused financially was sick of it. “The French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity.”-

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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

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The American identity has evolved over time. During the 1700’s, the Enlightenment, also known as the Age of Reason, occurred. It spread rapidly across Europe, and then to North America. This revolutionary way of thinking was crucial to the development of the American identity. The Enlightenment was the period for cultivation of science and human reason.

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The main difference between the American and French Revoultion was that one successfully converted to a democratic government and one did not. The French Revolution was not successful in forming a democratic government due to France’s history of a monarchy, economic issues and divison among its’ people. Unlike America, France had a long history of sole rulers and dictatorship which made the change to a democratic government much more difficult and ultimately impossible. America’s motto of “all men are created equal” (Doc A) was the complete opposite of France’s dividing estate class system. The third estate consisted of peasents, common people and the bourgeoisie, the second estate belonged to the Nobles, and the first was the home to the Clergy.

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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.

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The term “Revolutionary” is an instantaneous change or shift that promotes equal rights, liberty, and freedom. So, while some may argue that the revolution was a turning point for America, The American revolution in this case is not revolutionary since slavery was still present, minority groups did not gain rights, and British ideals and tactics were still being used in the new government. One of the crucial pieces of evidence that this “revolution” could not be considered revolutionary is because of the slavery still taking place even after the war ended. Throughout the revolt against British rule in the 16th century, the American people fought under the banner of truth, justice, and liberty for all people, However, the only people that indeed

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Within the period of 1750 to 1914, changes were taking place around the world. New empires and nations began growing and expanding their territory, and as a result of these actions, wars, bankruptcy, and rebellions became more common. An example is the American Revolution, in which the American colonists, who were influenced by new philosophies and the sense of nationalism, fought and gained their independence from Britain. This revolution eventually inspired others throughout the world as it was successful in gaining the colonies independence from a powerful European empire. Those revolutions include the Haitian and French Revolution.

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The American and French Revolution are both remembered in history as two major changes that would shape what we know today. Every child learns of the American Revolution at least once in their lives. Both these revolutions had the similar cause, effects, and stages that resulted or started them. Just like in every warring country, it is inevitable that there will be some change that occurs whether it be for the better or for worse. Although the American and French revolutions were very similar in the actions, there were many differences leading them into ultimately different paths and states of rest.

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The American and French Revolutions feature similarities that some people initially consider them “mirror struggles.” But enormous differences can be found between French Revolution and American Revolution though they are both revolutions where a party rose against another. Both French Revolution and American Revolution were the voices of people crying against the rule of the absolute monarchy that was in place. Both French and American revolutions were the results of the oppression the people had to suffer in the hands of their rulers. Both French Revolution and American Revolution succeeded in toppling the monarchy.

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She views the French Revolution as an act of liberation. The driving force behind the revolution came from the poor. The needs of the poor were not being met so they overthrew the government without a plan to found a new one. The American revolution was successful because it had the plan to reform government. It was driven by the idea of a new form of government rather than meeting the needs of the poor.

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Enlightenment was created by the English philosopher John Locke. The ideas that were influenced by enlightenment were life, liberty, and property. This also gave to the idea of natural right. Enlightenment influenced the way people finally realized that divine right wasn’t right and start to doubt it. Throughout time enlightenment has influenced a lot of important events in history.

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The Scottish Enlightenment was very influential to early America in different aspects. After the American revolution there were multiple areas within the political sphere that were impacted by Scottish philosophers such as Francis Hutcheson and Adam Smith. Hutcheson’s beliefs are incorporated through his pupil, Thomas Jefferson. It is evident that ‘when Jefferson wrote on fundamental questions of moral philosophy, he seems clearly to have identified his views with Hutcheson’s moral-sense doctrine.’ Additionally Hutcheson and Jefferson had similar ideas about community that it cannot be forced because then the morality of wanting to care for one another is lost.

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The French Revolution came about after much financial and representational distress. Some of the goals these revolutionaries had were to overthrow the monarchy and create a representative republic, to provide equal representation for the Third Estate, and to abolish the noble-veto. Whether these goals were accomplished or not is left up to debate for many people. However, I think they were both successfully accomplished and failed at the same time. Essentially, the revolutionaries achieved what they were fighting for, but that only lasted a short time.

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The American and French revolutions were two major events of Western civilization. While the timing and end results of the French and American Revolutions were different, the two were much more similar in many ways. They both broke free from oppressive government systems. Both were influenced by Enlightenment ideals when recreating their governments. They both inspired other countries to start their own revolutions to rid of monarchy and to create a republic government.

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Impact of American Revolution through time Almost all aspects of the lives of Americans were somehow affected by the spirit of the American Revolution. The attitudes of American people towards religious life, women’s rights, voting and slavery were changed forever because of it. There was a drastic change in social and political life after independence.

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