During the times of the Atlantic Revolutions, the idea of rights had come into question in multiple places, whether it be natural rights, political rights, or human rights. What were these rights? Did they include women and slaves? Answers given by thinkers during this time of Enlightenment did, however, inspire people to answer these questions for themselves. Enlightenment thinkers, such as, Immanuel Kant and others encouraged people to speak up against their rulers. Kant would define Enlightenment as, “empowering the individual to break away from a somnolent dependence toward an active intellectual existence.” Kant reasoned that people have an inability to be able to think on their own and have to rely on other’s opinions to make decisions. If people know that the way something is being done was wrong, then they should be able to speak their concerns. Kant argues that it is easier for a group of people to stand for independence that a single person. One idea thought by Kant thinkers is that …show more content…
The American Revolution aimed to preserve their liberties, as opposed to obtaining new ones. For most of seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the British North American colonies had much local freedom. However, colonists began to feel as if they had no global political input in their country, having Great Britain make all the global decisions on their behalf. The colonists began to claim, “taxation without representation.” Colonists regarded the freedom to choose as their birthright. Many Americans thought that their declaration of the “right to revolution” would inspire other colonies around the world. However, no significant social transformation came with independence from Britain. The revolution only accelerated democratic tendencies that were already established. Along with this, political power remained in the hands of existing elite