John Locke's Influence On The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment, a movement in which thinkers try to apply principles of reason to every aspect of life. Enlightenment philosophers shared ideas which had an impact on the American Democracy & French Revolution. John Locke, montesquieu, voltaire, etc all were a part of this development, they all believed in different things. Locke believed in the natural rights. Voltaire believed and fought for religious tolerance. Montesquieu believed in separation of power. All of the philosophers ideas had a great impact, but some had a greater impact than others. John Locke is an english physician known to be the most influential to the enlightenment. His ideas are based off of the education/educating others. He had a significant impact on the development

“Thomas Jefferson, working with general lafayette, who introduced it influenced also by the doctrine of natural rights the rights of man are held to be universal.” (www.hisoryguide.org) Locke’s rights were used in this because, there was 3 estates/social classes. The division of society was known as the old regime and so everyone was treated different based on how much land they owned. The peasants being the 3rd estate owned no land so they had no power and had no fair treatment compared to the other estates.and were just like the colonist were, being over taxed. The 3rd estate came together and named themselves the national assembly. They vowed to draw up a constitution for France. This also known as the tennis court oath. There was the storming of bastille (a prison in paris) were they overwhelmed the prison guards and freed everyone in the prison. This caused lots of chaos, panic, & fear throughout france. The national assembly wrote the declaration of man in 1789 and commoners were now considered equal, ending the old regime. (chap. 7 sec. 2) Although Locke did inspire them in making this declaration, it never got adopted. The assembly didn’t complete their constitution until sept. 1791. The constitution included the Legislative assembly- they had the power to create laws. The radicals in that assembly wanted to get rid of the monarchy and neighboring countries

His 3 natural rights: Life, Liberty, & Property, allowed the people more freedom to what they should be open to have/do. His ability to inspire the people of France to fight and end the Old Regime also made a big impact on their society and allowed more equality. Many people quoted him in the creation of major political papers so therefore he has made an impact on countless societies and generations. He made major changes to history. He is still an possibly will forever affect the present and the future. Locke most definitely always be one of the greatest influences on these moments in