It was during and after the American Revolution that many of the main ideas of the Enlightenment were used as the guidelines to help influence things such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The United States was founded on key figures such as Thomas Jefferson, who was greatly influenced by the Enlightenment ideas, which helped shaped the country as well. Great Britian had its own Enlightenment before America, whih was developed by thinkers like John Locke, and many others. In the 17th century, they rid of the king. Although the monarchy had soon been restored, and that created open minds toward change in many places. English Protestants struggled to express themselves in ways that had widened the of freedom of speech and press. The English and French Enlightenments exchanged influences through many happenings.
“The Philosophes, the early Enlightenment thinkers in France such as Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Diderot, set down some early principles of the movement: the only justification for the state is the promotion of the good life for its citizens; men should be rational, should be allowed to direct their lives by knowledge, reason and experience; the ability to use reason makes men equal; and with the use of reason, progress is sure to come (Artz 33).” Many of the most notable leaders of the American revolution were extremely influenced by English and to an extent, the French Enlightenment thought. Jefferson and Franklin both spent time in France, which was an ally because it was an enemy of England, and absorbed the influence of the French Enlightenment there. The language of natural law, inherent freedoms, and self-determination which inspired them so much that the American formation was the product...
... middle of paper ...
...ed the freedom to created branches of religion. The colonies were still very religious but they used the freedom given from the enlightenment ideas for their freedom to choose. Instead of following one religion, there were many choices in the colonies and people chose how to establish and maintain their connection to God.
Without the Enlightenment principles used as the basis of this country, it would be much different that it is today. These important values are still active today through freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and many other natural rights. Jefferson, Madison, Locke, Newton, and other Enlightenment philosophers put their ideas forward that went on to be key contributors in the most important documents in America such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
Works Cited
http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/hum_303/enlightenment.html
There are many different ways in which the Enlightenment affected the Declaration of Independence and the U.S Constitution. One way was the by the idea of a Social Contract; an agreement by which human beings are said to have abandoned the "state of nature" in order to form the society in which they now live. HOBBES, LOCKE, and J.J. ROUSSEAU each developed differing versions of the social contract, but all agreed that certain freedoms had been surrendered for society's protection and that the government has definite responsibilities to its citizens. Locke believed that governments were formed to protect the natural rights of men, and that overthrowing a government that did not protect these rights was not only a right, but also an obligation. His thoughts influenced many revolutionary pamphlets and documents, including the Virginia Constitution of 1776, and the Declaration of Independence. The Bill of Rights was created as a listing of the rights granted to citizens, the Bill of Rights serves to protect the people from a too powerful government. These civil rights granted to U.S. Citizens are included in the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Additionally, Locke’s ideas about checks and balances and the division of church and state were later embodied in the U.S. Constitution as well. The Constitution replaced a more weakly organized system of government as outlined under the Articles of Confederation.
It was established for the United States to have a document based foundation for the country to be run on. These Enlightenment thinkers got our founding fathers John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and George Washington all questioning God, Nature and Society. John Locke inspired our founding fathers to state in the document that all power should lie within out people. John Locke believed all people should have right to choose their leader. Montesquieu’s idea was also used in the United States Constitution. Montesquieu believed in the power of checks and balances, which means that not one branch of government gets too much power. Rousseau’s ideas were also presented in the United States Constitution. Rousseau’s idea was that all people get to vote for the president and congressmen. Other Enlightenment thinkers also have an influence on the United Sates Constitution. Voltaire’s ideas were also used he believed in religious freedom. The final thinker that is present in the structured law today is Cesare Beccaria. Beccaria believed that the accused have rights and that torture is unjust
1789 was a year that would be imprinted on the minds of Western Europeans for the rest of history. The beginning of a new country who had fought for their rights… the United States of America. Spielvogel states, “To many Europeans it proved that the liberal political ideas of the Enlightenment were not the vapid utterances of intellectuals… The premises of the Enlightenment seemed confirmed; a new age and a better world would be achieved.” (Spielvogel 567). The Revolution embodied the living aspect of the Enlightenment Ideals in Western Europeans minds. They seen what the ideals looked like in action, and they started to build upon that idea to implement in their own lives When the Continental Congress drafted the Declaration of Independence, they took some of the core ideals from the great Enlightenment thinkers to create the living embodiment in the United States. The American Revolution may not have influenced Western Europe physically, however, it has influenced them in ways such as the French Revolution. The origins of the French Revolution can be traced back from two different areas. The Estates (classes), and a wave of bad agricultural years that led to a rise in the poor. However, according to Spielvogel, “The actual influence of the ideas of the philosophes is difficult to prove… but once the Revolution began, the
Both the Enlightenment and the Great awakening caused the colonists to alter their views about government, the role of government, as well as society at large which ultimately and collectively helped to motivate the colonists to revolt against England. The Enlightenment was vital in almost every part of the founding of America, which included everything from government, to politics itself, as well as religion. Many of the ideas from the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening shaped our country as a whole in its seminal years, inspiring everything from the American Revolution, to the Constitution, and even electricity and stoves. Without the central ideas and figures of both the Great Awakening and the Enlightenment era, the United States would not be the nation that Americans are accustomed to living in today.
There were many Enlightenment ideas that provoked the American colonists to start the American Revolution. John Locke was very influential with his ideas of consent of governed, and limited Monarchy. Voltaire also had great ideas which contribute to the American Revolution such as that the government should be run by Natural Law instead of Gods Law.
Prior to Enlightenment the colonists, like the Europeans, were guided by their fear of God and rulers. They followed their church’s teachings blindly, as many of them could not read the scripture themselves. As the colonists began to educate themselves, they found that their interpretation of the readings did not always match what was preached to them in Sunday’s sermon. Even with the vamped up services and revivals during the Awakening many continued to question organized religion and separate from the Catholic Church. Many smaller denominations resulted from these breaks caused by the Awakening, leading to the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther even wrote entire doctrines based on his differences of opinion which would eventually form the basis for the Lutheran Church. The colonists also questioned the authority of their European rulers. Many believed that God himself had put their rulers in charge, but with all the political disasters and condemnation they were seeing they began to question their...
The Enlightenment period in Europe was a shift in the way that society thought about power and liberty. The ideals of this period helped to inspire the revolutions of the 18th century. The American colonies desired liberty from foreign rule, the French wanted to increase the power of the people in their class structure, and the Haitians fought for representation for the millions of slaves on their island. While the ideas of the enlightenment were not fully employed in each of these revolutions, they brought the nations closer to a fully representative government, rather than one of absolute power.
Enlightenment had an enormous impact on educated, well to do people in Europe and America. It supplied them with a common vocabulary and a unified view of the world, one that insisted that the enlightened 18th century was better, and wiser, than all previous ages. It joined them in a common endeavor, the effort to make sense of God's orderly creation. Thus
The Enlightenment political thought helped the Glorious Revolution of 1688 in England. James II wanted to strengthen his royal power alone and weaken the militia while raising his own army. The Enlightenment helped the English opponent to come forth and overthrow their king with the help of the Prince William of Orange and his wife Mary. They then reestablished the monarchy and accepted the Parliaments Bill of Rights. With the Enlightenment period, individuals helped get their words out and they learned to questions their ideals and beliefs. With the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the individuals were able to overthrown their king and establish the representative government and that a well-regulated militia under the locals control was best for everyone. The Enlightenment political thought helped the Glorious Revolution to establish a representative government and take control on what’s best for
Most historians accredit the Enlightenment to the Enlightened thinkers like Rousseau, Diderot, Kant, Voltaire, and Locke. All of these men are, of course, European men who conducted the ideas, words, and writings of the Enlightenment. Therefore, the credit for the Enlightenment is given only to the Europe. Commager did not agree with this thought of most historians. He believed that the Europeans designed the new modern society but the Americans really c...
The Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason, was a movement questioning traditional authority while embracing the notion that the human capacity for reasoning could be improved through rational changes (Schultz, n.d.). Rejecting authority due to the infringement upon their inalienable rights, consisting of life, liberty and property led the colonists to preserve and fight for freedoms. Both the American Revolution and the American political system were inspired and influenced by the Enlightenment ideals. Educated people were suggesting that natural laws seemed to determine its own course, governing society and the universe without God’s intervention (Enlightenment, 2018). Religious intellectuals tried to find the balance between science and religion, in fact, Enlightenment wasn’t unfriendly to religion and did not produce atheists or agnostics. In 1636, Harvard was founded based on Puritan philosophy and not as a school for church alone, there would be a total of nine schools during this time frame, with four of them located in the New England area.
The movements encouraged and led to an increase in free thinking while also questioning ideas of authoritative figures in both the government and church. The Great Awakening was a movement that suggested power to the individual and emotional expression with an understanding that you don’t need a minister to understand god. The Enlightenment was a movement which inspired the power of reasoning and also power of the individual. Both of these ideas generated questions in all forms of authority. This movement also held the strength of natural laws above the normal standard. The enlightenment 's idea of that things that cannot be explains are not miracles or laws of chance, that there was more at play. This idea challenged the church and the leaders of the Church of England. Another cause that came out of these two motions was that of the Great Awakening. More and more Christians denominations were starting to form. These new sects of the Christians church began questioning old puritan beliefs and traditions. The questions and causes that were a direct effects of these two movements really generated a rise in free and enlightened thinking. They ultimately led up to the American
The ideas from the Enlightenment and its thinkers greatly influenced the world today, everything from our ideas of modern government to our view of everyday life. Important Enlightenment philosophes such as Locke, Montesquieu, Hobbes and Voltaire established controversial ideas and theories on human nature, natural rights, and how government should be run and which form of it was superior. These ideas were all never even thought of before, and shattered many of the previous notions of ideas, such as ideas of how to run government, that had already been established and taken as a standard for several hundreds of years.
... corruption of the government in many countries including France. It stated what was reasonably correct not just what was traditionally taught to people. It allowed the French people to gain a surfeit of power and have a say in the government. However, their work was obliterated once Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself dictator of France in 1799 (French Revolution 13). Not only did the Enlightenment cause the French Revolution by allowing the people to see how inferior France really was, making them question divine right, and opening their eyes to the injustice between estates occurring, but it also described the United States which is the epitome of an ideal society. While the Enlightenment criticized monarchy governments, it influenced democratic forms of government. Without the Enlightenment and the help of France, the United States wouldn’t be what it is today.
The key and perhaps the most important change in the Enlightenment was the shift from religion-based government to reason-based government. This can be seen mainly as the result of the Scientific Revolution. Before, religion was the basis of government because it provided a set of morale codes for people to follow and it helped explain the unexplained. During the Scientific Revolution, prolific thinkers such as Isaac Newton, Galileo Galilei, Johann Kepler, and Francis Bacon began discovering and explaining things previously attributed to the Christian God. Therefore, when science and reason started to explain things more accurately than religion, it resulted in a shift in which they took over as the basis of government.