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Enlightenment and its connection to the declaration of independance
Enlightenment and its connection to the declaration of independance
Enlightenment and its connection to the declaration of independance
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After gaining independence from Spain and Portugal in the 1820s, Latin American colonies had a lot ahead of them. They had to establish their own governments and economies in the midst of recovering from wars. Founding these was going to be difficult as they had been under colonial rule for a long time and there was a lot of unrest in the colonies. Although it would have been difficult there was great potential for a strong economy and democracy. This potential stemmed from a few things. A strong economy would have been possible because Latin America is rich with minerals, gold, and silver. Democracy also seemed attainable, in part from the ideas that started independence movements, including enlightenment ideas and the successful revolution in the United States. A democracy appeared to be very possible but there were also concerns that the newly freed colonies would struggle to establish a strong government, these concerns were addressed by Simon Bolivar in The Jamaica Letter.
Independence movements in Latin America were inspired the successful revolution in the United States and the ideas of the enlightenment reaching them. People in the colonies wanted free trade and press as
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These ideas from the enlightenment should have helped the new countries to establish a strong democracy. The Enlightenment also fueled the desire for equality before the law, free trade, and free press. The American Revolution should have helped to create a democracy, because it should have showed that a recently freed country could be successful with a new government and not simply fall to pieces. The Latin American colonies also had Although Simon Bolivar was considered to be the George Washington of Latin America, he did suggest that the people could struggle to form a republic because
The leadership in South America compared to the leadership in Mexico was quite different. But in some areas, where they were compared were very similar. In both places, a Revolution had begun. Starting with how they are both similar, Mexico and South America both wanted independence. They wanted to be free from the old fashioned ways of life, to start fresh and bring in new ideas to their people. In South America, their head leadership consisted of so very popular men named Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin. These men were both wealthy, Simon was a Venezuela Creole, which is a Spaniard born in Latin America, and Jose was a great liberator, or a person who sets people free from imprisonment. In some ways these two men worked together to gain their independence but then again not at all. In 1811, Simon had gained its independence from Spain. A major struggle, that was only the beginning. Simon suffered from many defeats and was exiled twice. But he never gave up hope. In a turning point, Simon led over 20,000 soldiers into Columbia and took a victory from the Spanish Bogota. By 1821 he had won Venezuelan independence. From here he marched into South Ecuador where he met Jose. Simon’s ways of gaining independence was only the beginning of South Americas revolution.
Thomas Jefferson once said, “A democracy cannot be both ignorant and free.” The American settlers desired freedom and a sense of sincerity, or openness. The harsh oppression the British placed on the settlers left a lasting impression on the settlers’ minds. They used their familiarity and experiences with the oppression to form the ideals of the Constitution and the Amendments. According to civilliberty.about.com, the father of the Constitution, Thomas Jefferson, was somewhat captivated with the concepts of freedom of speech and religious practice.
America’s form of representative democracy came as a result of the transgressions Britain committed against their colonies. Several hundred years of salutary neglect served well for those living an ocean away from their motherland. Realizing the prosperity that colonies had obtained through a semi-free market society, the King of England and the parliament began enacting many taxes and acts. Taking away the colonies freedom was unsettling amongst the colonists and eventually led to a revolution. This revolution secured freedom from Britain as well as founded a new nation with the first ever constitution. Although the process to achieve democracy in America was a long, laborious road the freedom, prosperity and equality of opportunity shared by those amongst the states could not be denied.
Simon Bolivar was proclaimed “Liberator” by his own people and a world-renowned figure in his day. His prophetic vision of hemispheric solidarity lives today, and his political thinking serves dictators and democrat alike in contemporary Latin America. This paper explores the impact the days of colonialism and revolution, in which treatment of Creoles was inferior to Peninsulares (Spaniards born in Spain). And this was a long-standing cause of frustration and resentment that contributed to the desire for independence from Spain. In addition, this paper analyzes some facts of one of the greatest minds of the 18th century “Simon Bolivar”. There is abundant evidence that Bolivar worked extensively to create a system that would preserve unity and stability through a powerful, centralized government while retaining as much individual liberty as possible; but his efforts were exhausting and fruitless. However, even today (after 200 years) his contribution had been to promote the idea of independence among Spanish-American leaders. Simon Jose Antonio de la Santisima Trinidad Bolivar y Palacios (this was his real name) was born on July 24, 1783, the year England’s North colonies won their independence. [1] His father had been an important figure and the landlord of twelve houses in Caracas, herds of cattle, indigo plantations, mines, and sugar plantation that had been in the family for at least two centuries. He had organized a militia battalion in which his youngest son (Simon) would later serve, and he had been Caracas’s deputy to Madrid. Like many Creoles who visited Spain, he was disillusioned by Spain’s backwardness in comparison to other European nations. The Venezuelan Creoles, like those of other S...
There were several factors that influenced the American People to fight for their independence. One such factor was Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. This political pamphlet ignited American spirit and gave purpose to the war. It gave reasons why government was a necessary evil, why American independence was inevitable, why British oppression was inevitable, and why foreign allies were important. These radical ideas allowed the American people to band together to stand up and fight for their independence from the British Government.
The Enlightenment was a European movement that emphasized reason and individualism rather than tradition and superstition. Two men in the colonies that were influenced by the Enlightenment were Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Paine was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. He also promoted the idea of a revolution towards Great Britain. Paine was a philosopher, political theorist, and an English-American political activist. During the years 1775 to 1776, before the revolution, Thomas Paine wrote the Common Sense pamphlet. He wrote this pamphlet in a forceful, but understandable way. It inspired colonists in the thirteen colonies to fight for their independence from Great Britain and it encouraged the people to support the Patriots, who were colonists that wanted Independence from Great Britain. Another similar revolutionary thinker was Thomas Jefferson. He was an American lawyer and was also one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America. Thomas Jefferson was a part of the June 1776 committee, along with John Adams, Rodger Sherman, Robert Livingston and Ben Franklin who wrote the Declaration of Independence. Of those people on the committee, Thomas Jefferson was elected to write the Declaration of Independence. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson announced the separation of the colonies from Great
In Anzia Yezierska's novel Bread Givers, we learn about a struggle between Sara Smolinsky and her father. Her father, an Orthodox rabbi, is stuck in the traditions of the old world and will not tolerate Sara's longing for independence. This novel takes place in New York's Lower East Side, where the population mainly consists of Jewish immigrants who have come to America in hopes of living a better life than they lived in the shtetls. In America, for the family's who still lived by the traditions of the old world, life for the women was no different that life in the shtetls.
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 Britain had its own Enlightenment before America, which was developed by thinkers like John Locke, and many others. In the 17th century, they rid the king. Although the monarchy had soon been restored, that created open minds toward change in many places.
Enlightenment ideas in Latin America took place during the 1700's to the early 1800's. These ideas were appealed to the people because they taught that man was free and that all were equal. These ideas were important especially in countries were slavery existed and countries under the control of foreign powers. The Spark that ignited wide spread revolt was napoleon's invasion of Spain. He ousted the Spanish king and placed his brother Joseph on the Spanish throne. Latin American leaders saw Spain's opportunity to reject foreign domination and demand independence from colonial rule. Two places that were influenced by the enlightenment were Haiti and South America. Toussaint L'Ouverture was also influenced by the enlightenment.
Latin America went through many years of colonial rule from Spain, but around the 1800’s they began to seek their independence. The years to follow were full of rebellion and war, trying to gain their independence from colonial Spain. The “Americanos”, now believed that they were able to rule themselves, and that it was no longer necessary for Spain to keep controlling the Americas. When Latin America finally defeated Spain, new issues began to arise that were caused by many years of war, which led to chaos and a sense of imbalance in the hands of Latin America. Many of these struggles impeded Latin America’s success to rule themselves, and create their own democracy. Some of the main challenges and struggles that were most predominant in the independence of Latin America, was the economic instability caused by many years of war, the burden of colonialism from Spain, and the strong hand of the caudillos.
Latin American Independence was the drive for independence from Spain and France by the Latin American people. There were many contributing factors that ultimately led to the uprising of Latin American colonies. Europe's strong hold on the economic and political life of Latin America, was creating friction between the Latin Colonies and the European nations. Eventually, this would become enough for the Latin American people and the drive for independence from France and Spain would begin.
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.
In summary, although the common theme for the American, French, and Latin American revolution were the influence of the Enlightenment values, these uprising wars all achieve independence from imperial rule from Great Britain, Spain and Portugal. On a final note, since all three revolutions were based on Enlightenment ideas, their key goal was to modify their societies. Overall, the American, French, and Latin America revolution common cause was to achieve independence.
At the end of the 18th century, there were many revolts in the Spanish Americas, but these insurgencies didn’t have the intention to bring independence, in fact they fought corrupt officials and the implementation of the Bourbon reforms, in the name of the king. These revolts didn’t evolve into movements of independence because of the remoteness of the cities that they occurred in and the magnitude of the Spanish Americas, the Bourbon reforms weren’t set in place at the same time in all places, so people weren’t discontent simultaneously, there were deep social divisions at the time, and the political theory and ideas that these movements had weren’t those of independence. Although this was true, a few decades later in the early 19th century,
Reflecting back on the statement historian Jaime E. Rodriguez gave on the impact that independence had on the people of Latin America. “The emancipation of [Latin America] did not merely consist of separation from the mother country, as in the case of the United States. It also destroyed a vast and responsive social, political, and economic system that functioned well despite many imperfections.” I believe that the eagerness to get rid of slaves