Thomas Jefferson was an excellent visionary on the topic of separation of church and state, he articulated through supporting religion yet upholding civil liberties that could also be lost along the
John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Denis Diderot, and Baron de Montesquieu were all part of the Enlightenment. John Locke an American enlightenment thinker thought people had natural rights and that government should have limited power. Baron de Montesquieu a French enlightenment thinker developed the ideas of separation of powers and check and balances. Denis Diderot also a French enlightenment thinker created an encyclopedia that explained the new ideas on the topics of government, philosophy, and religion. Framers of the United States Constitution would use these ideas.
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.
During the creation of Colonial America, many early ideas and characteristics began to form. Backgrounds began to become more diverse and communities began to become more occupied. Earlier more successful governments, set strong precedents, and taught American Founders the ideal route. A time period that was most influential for the American government was the Enlightenment Period. The Enlightenment set a foundation that many founders referenced and created the United States in their footsteps.
The Enlightenment era ideas affected Americans not only in the religious aspect but also through education, politics, art, sciences, and industry. It was a period that roughly lasted from the 17th to the 19th century and is best known as an intellectual movement that emphasized reason, humanism, science, and skepticism. It is also known as “Age of Reason” due to so many scientific and intellectual discoveries and a new way to think that dwindled its way from Europe into the American society. A mark in history where people of the world grew independence from the church and started to challenge traditional religious ways and think with literalness. It was a revolution in science that made the people of the world question and test what was real
The Enlightenment was critical in many aspects of the colonial America way of life, which commonly affected the politics, government and religion. Without these principles of understanding and the new way of thinking, the United States would have drastically been different since those ideas shaped the country in its infant years. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution was overwhelmingly influenced by The Enlightenment both during and after the American Revolution. Many different concepts came from this new governmental structure such as, freedom of oppression and natural rights. These concepts were influenced by Enlightenment philosophers such as John Locke and Isaac Newton where they helped set a clear path for colonial and present America to follow.
Many laws citizens of America abide by today trace back to the philosophical ideas of Enlightenment thinkers from the 17th century. During this time period, the scientific revolution and absolutism sparked a movement in which new ideas and thoughts promoted challenging the government. People believed that if they could understand human nature, they could form the ideal government to rule over the people. Many different thinkers presented their own thoughts and beliefs on the people and their natural rights, along with how the people should be ruled. Of the many Enlightenment thinkers whose philosophies are found the Constitution, John Locke and Voltaire made the greatest impact due to their contributions in protecting the people’s liberties,
To begin with, the Enlightenment has highly influenced governmental structures. An example of this would be the U.S. three branch system. This system was the idea of Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de la Brede et Montesquieu. He was an important advocator during the Enlightenment who theorized separation of power to create checks and balances.
Above all, the Enlightenment played crucial role in educating people in the American societies. Although the Enlightenment initially started in Europe, it was prevalent out to America. The definition of Enlightenment means to “reimbursement or clearing up” and it is a very helpful term since it assists to give proper information about what the Enlightenment is and what they tried to fulfill that time. Furthermore, the Enlightenment had hugely impacted on the American Revolution. The most well known Enlightenment theorists in America were Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, I think.
The concept of natural rights has been the mainstay of American philosophy and is a founding principle in its identity. The Enlightenment period of human history was a European intellectual movement that emphasized the use of reason over superstition which caused advancement in philosophy, politics, the arts, and science. During this time period Enlightenment ideas eventually made their way to the west, bringing new democratic and political values to colonists. Natural rights, as conceived by European enlightenment thinkers, have fundamentally influenced the shaping of the United States by providing the foundation for the Declaration of Independence, the development of the constitution, and impacting the course of civil rights for the people
The Enlightenment era in the United States can be considered as revolutionary, and a huge leap towards the country’s progress with different philosophical, social, economic, and scientific changes. After the Salem Witch Trials, the colonial people’s belief towards religion took a different turn. Along with the population boom in the American colonies, people started appreciating science more, bringing out philosophical changes in the society. Number of scientific discoveries and inventions led people to realize the capability and the power of the human mind. This realization changed the public’s social beliefs.
Since the late 17th century, America has experienced new developments due to the act of The Enlightenment. The new thoughts, theories, and ideas of enlightenment shaped political attitudes. It was people like John Locke that continuously verbally fought about how the government should protect the rights of citizens. The citizens could rightly replace the government if the government has at all failed to do their job properly. United States constitution truly reflect the enlightenment principles.
Enlightenment philosophical concepts were mostly centered on moving away from absolute monarchies, were they held all the power but to a democracy where people were able to corporate their ideas in government and make decisions. From these teachings and new intellectual discoveries, The Enlightenment influenced the American and French revolution as well as the Latin Wars. John Locke 's Ideas were heavily utilized in both the American and French revolutions. In the American Revolution, his three rights for all were incorporated in their Declaration of Independence from the British monarchy. Similar clashes between the government and the governed occurred in Haiti.
The aim of any government shall be to protect the property of its citizen and their rights of "life, liberty, and estate" . The liberalism ideas are centered on preserving and maximizing the freedom and liberty of individuals. The enlightenment philosophers influenced the founding fathers of the United States of America. They founded the United States union and its model of governance on ideas developed by Montesquieu (1689-1755), JJ. Rousseau (1712-1778), Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), Locke (1632-1704), and so on.
First, by the formation of the United States Constitution, Americans were in the right track in ensuring their freedom is secured. Enlightenment led to ideas that would create a conducive political environment for the Americans. One of the ideas was republicanism: The ideology had its origin from ancient Greece where the government in place is elected by the people. This was not the case during the colonial era, where British choose who to govern the American son their behalf. The second idea was freedom of the Americans.
