John Locke, Mercantilism And The Great Awakening

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There are various reasons for the development of the Democratic Republic ideals that led to the American Revolution. The structures and ideas that were in place in the British colonies from 1607-1754 set the foundation for these Democratic Republic ideals and were instrumental in the American Revolution because of John Locke, Mercantilism and the Great Awakening. These 2 major events in history and 1 very influential person caused a change in the ideas and beliefs amongst the colonists and paved the way for revolting against Great Britain. John Locke was a philosopher who is considered “The Father of Democracy.” Mercantilism was when people were being over-taxed. The Great Awakening was a religious revolt against the British’s beliefs …show more content…

This event in history created the idea of religious freedom in the colonies. The colonists felt it was important to have the ability to believe in what you wanted without being persecuted. The Democratic Republic felt strongly about having religious freedom and the separation of Church and State. According to this quote by the site “Great-Awakening.com, “ “The effect of Great Awakening unity was an attitude that went against the deferential thinking that consumed English politics and religion. Rather than believing that God’s will was necessarily interpreted by the monarch, or his bishops, the colonists viewed themselves as more capable of performing the task. The chain of authority no longer ran from God to ruler to people, but from God to the people to ruler. The children of revivalism later echoed this radicalism and popular self-righteousness in the American Revolution, when self-assertion turned against the tyrannical ways of George III.” This quote discusses how the Great Awakening was ultimately a thought-process of not needing a king or queen to decipher what God’s will was. As time passed King George III believed he was divine and, again, opposed the idea of freedom for the colonies and made everyone switch back to the Anglican ways. The colonies did not take this well and later began the