Impact Of Enlightenment On Mary Wollstonecraft

For instance, one of the essential impacts of the Enlightenment that positively influenced the world is the evolution of various human rights which led to the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). A British writer and philosopher, and advocate for women's rights, Mary Wollstonecraft authored “A Vindication of Rights of Women,” in 1792, advocating equality for women. She defended people's rights to establish and change the government. Mary was a true believer in the French Revolution until she discovered the reason for what they were fighting for, men’s rights and social equality over women’s. During the late 18th century women couldn’t retain a lawyer, inherit property, vote, sign contracts or have rights over their

The studies and creation of the Social Contract inspired many writers in initiating the Declaration of Independence, which established many independent nations that can make their own rules and follow inherent government systems. Furthermore, an English philosopher and physician John Locke was born on August 29, 1632, in Wrington, United Kingdom. He was widely viewed as one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers and is commonly known as the "father of liberalism." Locke published a book in 1689 called “Two Treatises of Government,” which addressed his visions on the social contract, natural rights as well as government. A social contract is a contract that refers to the concepts of government/state existing to serve and benefit the necessities of the people. The social contract was not a physical contract but rather an agreement between the government and its community, where the people would give up some of their rights such as freedom in exchange for protection from the government. Another impactful Enlightenment thinker was Jean-Jaques Rousseau. Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher who published his book called " The Social Contract,' in 1762, in which he discussed the best way to establish a political society in the face of social concerns. He thought that legitimate political authority comes from a social contract agreed upon by all citizens for their mutual

For example, a final Enlightenment thinker was Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de la Brede et de Montesquieu. Montesquieu authored a book in 1748, “Spirit of the Laws” which addressed his views on the best form of government being a separation of power. Separation of power is splitting up the power into branches in your government system. This is where checks and balances come into play. Checks and balances are a concept that ensures that each branch will have ultimate power over the others by reviewing each other's departments. Without separation in the government, one branch would gain too much power and the other two would be weaker, enforcing that side of the government could collapse. Montesquieu's studies have impacted many countries, which have now opened their eyes to his theories and have adopted them years later. For example, the U.S. democracy has now been split into three branches which each play its role, legislative (makes laws), executive (carries out laws), and judicial (evaluates laws). The U.S. was the first country to adopt the system of government and the most influenced. The U.S. is one of the most powerful countries others inspire to be. Based on popular sovereignty, the U.K. and Japan have also separated their government to keep their power in