How Did The Enlightenment Contribute To The French Revolution

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The Enlightenment and the French Revolution are two events that are so intertwined that it would be impossible to talk about one without the other. The Enlightenment was both the cause of the French Revolution, but the French Revolution contributed to the Enlightenment by both spreading it around the world and literally killing off monarchy and the power of the Catholic Church. Paragraph 1 The French revolution was aided by the Enlightenment as it gave the public the intellectual arguments to challenge both the church and the king. The church had lost the ability to argue from the authority of God because there were French intellectuals such as D’Holbach and Voltaire who had made some compelling arguments against organized religion. The French revolution also gave the people the courage and ability to overthrow the French monarchy. Paragraph 2 The Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen has many similarities to both the U. S. Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence which were documents inspired from the Enlightenment. But it also seems to give homage to Immanuel Kant’s “What is Enlightenment?” piece as both documents encourage people to think for themselves. The quote “14: All the citizens have a right to decide, either …show more content…

The quote “6: Law is the expression of the general will. Every citizen has a right to participate personally, or through his representative, in its foundation, it must be the same for all, whether it protects of punishes…” is the most important quote in this document. Before the Enlightenment, it would be rare to see any nobleman much less likely a King face justice as reprimand for their actions toward their subjects. But now, the standard has changed that the justice system should be blind and that civilization should be ruled by “a government of laws, not of

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