In the 17th and 18th century the Enlightenment was a period of intellectual movement encompassing reason, individualism, and skepticism. The Scientific Revolution, which came from the enlightenment, resulted in new scientific findings, particularly in astronomy, which changed long-held beliefs about how space affects the natural world. These new revelations led people to doubt the established political and social hierarchies. The Enlightenment challenged traditional notions of hierarchy, including the king's 'divine right' to govern, the nobility's privileges, and the influence of religion on politics. Additionally, it served as an inspiration for the values of choice, equality, and independence as well as the fundamentals of human reason …show more content…
In 1748, Montesquieu, french enlightenment philosoJefferson'sesses that a nation can not run properly when powers are united under one singular person. He claims that everything under the rule of one person would be the end of everything (Doc 2). The enlightenment shared the ideas of opposition to absolute monarchy, which without of Montesquieu might not have gotten this belief about the current, at that time, ruling over France. In 1690, John Locke expressed similar ideas but against Great Britain. Stating that the people shoMontesquieue right to escape a failed government and prevent it from happening (Doc 1). This thinking came from the ideas from the enlightenment and led to America completely leaving Great Britain's nation. Similar to that is Thomas Jeffersons' declaration of independence, which was the final turning point in America’s freedom. He said that they needed to “throw off” the government by instituting new guards for their nation (Doc 3).Jefferson intended this to be shown to Great Britain and made it to finally declare their independence against the oppressive government. Jefferson most likely believed in equality and freedom for all free men and wanted to have fair representation in the government. Montesquieu, Locke, and Jefferson all derived ideas from the enlightenment to create their works and all three of them led to the changing of …show more content…
The declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, written in France, addresses that horrible treatment towards the common people and addresses what they wish for and want (Doc 4). This document was written for the French national assembly with the main purpose of convincing them to give the people more and improved rights. The authors of this document most likely disagreed with the leaders of France at that time and knew it was time for a change. In the Jamaican Letter, written in 1815, Simon Bolivar mentions how the people who are a part of the Spanish system are treated no better than serfs and states how they deserve better than that. (Doc 7). Bolivar likely wrote this to inform them of their wants and needs and what the rulers could do to give them what they wished
Braford E. Burns began writing The Poverty of Progress as a historical essay arguing against the “modernization” of nineteenth century Latin America. Burns argues that modernization was preformed against the will of the majority and benefited a small group of Creole Elite, while causing an exponential drop in the quality of life for folk majority. Burns supports his research through a series of dichotomies. Within the first twenty years of the nineteenth century the majority of Latin America gained independence from Spain.
The struggles of Bolívar were successful in ending Spanish colonial rule, however, he had a lifelong dream of a federation like that of North America’s, yet failed to he achieve. However, the overall thesis of Simón Bolívar’s letter reflects a main idea of enlightenment during the revolutionary period—as he devises his plan based solely on his wish to flee from Spanish rule and reconstruct the government of Latin America. His letter in many positions supports his thesis and highlights his ideas and enlightenment influences to recreate the Latin American government. Bolívar’s informed demand for independence is in one way supported by his understanding of rights: “Americans by birth and endowed with rights from Europe—find ourselves forced to defend these rights against the natives while maintaining our position in the land against the inturstion of the invaders.” This statement reflects the key concepts of the enlightenment idea of the government protecting human rights, which was an important idea among enlightenment thinkers.
The French and Latin American Revolutions, two significant historical occurrences, aimed to overthrow repressive regimes and enshrine egalitarian and libertarian ideals. While both revolutions had similar goals, they had different outcomes because of their different socio-political environments. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and the French Constitution, which supported individual liberties and a representative government, were products of the French Revolution, which was inspired by Enlightenment ideas (Source 1). As evidenced by the Haitian Constitution of 1801 and the Mexican Constitution of 1824, the Latin American Revolutions, including the Haitian and Mexican Revolutions, embraced the principles of racial equality and federalism (Sources 3, 6). We can learn more about the various paths and results by contrasting and comparing these outcomes.
In 1807 only 12 of the 99 judgeships in Latin America were held by Creoles. As a result, Creoles started to realize the Spanish was an inconvenience (Doc B). The Creoles were Americans by birth and Europeans by law which made their position complicated (Doc A). Creoles felt as if they should be politically led by people who were American-born people instead of the Peninsulares. Creoles felt they were entitled to power and voice, which they did not have in this situation.
From the 1500s - 1800s there were many independence movements across the globe. One of the most highlighted ones is the uphill battle for the Creoles against the Spainards. In the early 1800s the Creoles started revolting against their rulers, the Spaniards. There were a handful of unfair laws placed against the Creoles that were intolerable. Not only did the Creoles have to break free from the Spaniards they also had to become independent from all the other social classes surrounding them.
For instance the political tensions made Creoles feel politically inferior to the peninsulares. The peninsulares had more political power over the rest of the social class and had more general power over them as well. Thomas Paine influenced independence. It was from his pamphlet Common Sense, which advocated the colonies' independence and was widely distributed throughout the colonies. There were many reasons why the colonies wanted independence.
The monarchy—viewing the native people as mere parts of an economic system to their benefit, equated to the maltreatment on behalf of the conquistadors. The Spanish conquistadors came to view the Andean region as utopian on the basis that they could attain both wealth and prestige. There is a common misconception that the conquistadors were of grand importance and nobility, however, this was not the case. Spanish conquistadors such as Francisco Pizarro typically constituted the lower ranks of nobility hidalgos who had no hopes of ever ascending within the rigid social conventions of class and nobility within the Spanish monarchy. Henceforth, for the Spanish, “America was an escape, the refuge for those in Spain who for different motives were not well looked upon” (pg 14).
While influenced by others the human race is individually minded, and has been able to obtain much knowledge at a substantial rate because of enlightenment. Throughout history man was able to shape the face of the earth by controlling others, but until the age of enlightenment man was not fully aware of the accomplishments he could achieve. In this period the ideals of society having a voice, changed history through bringing light to the genius and talent of not one but the vast majority of the world. To challenge one’s self-worth enlightenment must be achieved through leaving a cowardly stage to become mature. Presently, the enlightenment ideals have given many people around the globe a chance at a free life through natural rights and tolerance,
This could lead to a revolution if people want to take charge of themselves and overthrow a government that limits their
Creoles and poorer classes began to get frustrated with the restrictions that the government had created on the economy. Merchants were forced to sell “products at artificially low prices and buy...at artificially high prices”. (Doc C)Latin Americans were also stripped of basic trading and property rights. When this started to occur, the Creoles began to try to convince the people of America that by gaining independence, they could be ruled by a class that was born in their country. This was one of the main reasons why the Creoles began to help lead the fight for independence.
The Enlightenment was a period between the 17th and 18th century in which philosophers attempted to discover new ways to improve and understand their society. There were four Enlightenment philosophers, John Locke, Voltaire, Adam Smith, and Mary Wollstonecraft. The Enlightenment philosophers believed that individual freedom could improve our society in several areas. These areas included natural rights, freedom of religion, and social equality/ equal learning. First, is the idea that people have the power to create and change the government and that everyone has natural rights or rights that belong to all humans from birth.
Consequently, a limited government was created in response to these new thoughts. Furthermore, this new type of government was extremely revolutionary because it changed the way that the citizens had thought or viewed about the government. Two Enlightenment philosophers that influenced the creation of the government were John Locke and Montesquieu. John Locke had the belief that everyone had natural rights (life, liberty, property) and that if the government failed to protect these rights, they could be overthrown and replaced. Also, Montesquieu’s idea of the separation of powers helped shape the government.
The European Enlightenment (also known as the Age of Reason) took place before 1750 and was shaped by the principles of the Scientific Revolution that embraced human reason. Enlightenment thinkers believed that principles of reason and nature should be applied to the governance of a country (popular sovereignty), people’s natural rights, social contract, and societal structure. These theorists of the Enlightenment challenged accepted and traditional thinking (monarchial governments, aristocratic power) and established politics and society based on the laws of reason and nature. Nevertheless, these Enlightenment ideas motivated and influenced feminist movements and the Atlantic Revolutions. Although conservatives sought to preserve the traditional
Many of the more unrealistic parts of the essay can be seen as less of the ideological musings of one man and his hope for a united future and more the reflection of a colonial and racially charged violent past, disunity of Latin America and failure of Simon Bolivar's dreams, and the corrupt rule of the
These people were starving and barely had anything. The people of mexico didn’t like this so they wanted a new leader and new form of government. In France the king had to much power all to himself and he was abusing it, but not for the good of the country. According to Document A The King’s Authority. It states:”These, sirs, are the invariable principles of the French monarchy…