The Enlightenment period was crucial for both French and the American nations, as it helped to contour their futures. Spanning the 17th and 18th centuries,the Enlightenment introduced a new wave of ideas and intellectual movements. As Rosenblatt describes, the Enlightenment aimed to “put Christianity on trial” and even to annihilate the religious interpretation of life” (Rosenblatt, Helena 2006, Chapter 15). This era emphasised scientific knowledge and empirical evidence over the traditional religious beliefs. During each nation's respective revolutionary periods, both countries grappled with issues related to social order and governance, unfair taxation, and the active pursuit of freedom as liberty as central Enlightenment ideals. Both revolutions marked a time of …show more content…
Both nations were facing several issues relating to their governance and social order. In America, they aimed to create a government that was run with a system of checks and balances and a clear separation of powers to prevent one branch from becoming too powerful, as well as this they created a social order, where the everyday man could have somewhat of a say in what happened in his country. John Locke was a fundamental philosopher during the American Revolution, because his ideas were, for the most part, agreed upon by the population. Locke used his theory of natural rights to argue that governments have an obligation to their citizens, should have only limited powers over their citizens, and can ultimately be overthrown by those citizens in dire circumstances, (Locke 1988, #105-106). Whereas the French, at the time were dealing with King Louis XVI, who was actively being persecuted by the Third Estate for the lack of say they got in any government hearing, to counteract this, the population fought to abolish the monarchy and the feudal privileges, by shifting to a more radical republican movement, where the rights of the man were
...on, Enlightenment ideas permeated the politics, economics, and religion of the French Revolution and the American Revolution. While both show several similarities, they predominantly differ on most things. Politically, American conservatives respected the individual and property rights of a citizen, while French politics respected the individual rights, took property rights in some cases, and used terror to influence people. Economically, the American free market idea left the economy alone, while the French input socialist ideas such as price ceilings. Religiously, the America closely associated itself with religion in the revolution, while the French public mostly despised the church.
By the late eighteenth century, the Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason as it was called had begun to rapidly spread across Europe. People began believing in the ideals of popular government, the centrality of economics to politics, secularism, and progress. This cultural movement was sparked by intellectuals and commonwealth thinkers such as the influential writer John Locke and the famous scientist Isaac Newton, both who emphasized the fact that man, by the use of reason, would be able to solve all of his problems-whether it be problems with the government, morals or the society. However, these ideals weren’t just limited to the European nations where they had first begun. On the other side of the world, off in the United States, American intellectuals began to reason with these ideas as well. As a result, the influence on the profound of modern economic and political thought had a huge impact on the United States, resulting in one of the most important documents in known in American history; the Constitution.
The American Revolution and French Revolution were two long lasting uprisings that had great value to those battling for their rights and want they wanted to change. Yet there are a few distinctions details set them apart in a small way. The Americans wanted a change in their government, but the French wanted a huge change in everything including their government, religion, social structure (whereas American’s social system stayed the same) and economy. Other than the few differences they had, they two Revolutions were much alike, basically twin revolutions.
For starters, both revolutions were inspired by others. The French revolution was empowered by the American. News spread throughout the rest of the world that England’s American colony had overthrown their British government with a war. A period called "The Enlightenment" sparked the American Revolution. During this time, philosophers and lawmakers focused on basic human rights and creating a balanced government. Ideas from the Declaration of Independence which came from these philosophers, inspired the people of France to develop a sense of natural rights in French government. Since their current government gave the people very little natural rights, they rebelled.
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
Before the American Revolution there was the Enlightenment and Great Awakening period. The Enlightenment and Great Awakening period were different from each other but in similarities they both challenged the way society thoughts of situations in life. They both had a big impact leading towards the American Revolution and how the colonist were thinking differently from before. They were able to think outside the box and become more of a personality than a group. The Enlightenment was a philosophical, social movement that challenged the ideals of reality. They wanted reasons over faith, to establish an authoritative system. The Enlightenment gave a way for a new perspective into the world and take a scientific approach to questioning situations.
The Enlightenment is the era were the intellectual, scientific and individual freedom, centered upon the 18th Century; there were many important people of this time that brought forth many new concepts. For example, Benjamin Franklin, he brought many new inventions to this era, such as the Poor Richards’ Almanac, lightening rod, harmonica, and his own thought on the Christian outlook. Secondly, Sir Isaac Newton discovered the laws of nature such as, gravitation. Third, the most well known religious revival was brought forth, The Great Awakening, which put a fire in many people during the 18th Century. During the 18th Century, Benjamin Franklin, Sir Isaac Newton, and The Great Awakening goes to show the intellectual, scientific and individual
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.
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.
The Enlightenment itself ignited the changes in perspective that were needed to provoke improvement in society and set new standards for our future. These standards spread rather rapidly across Europe and eventually to America and challenged the old order. These ideas of rational thinking over religion and authority delivered a vast political change throughout the world which can still be felt today. These revolutionary thoughts of rationalism brought on freedom of speech and the demand for equality in society. This was not only the igniter to the French revolution but was also, how many governments including the United States based their modern
The American and the French revolutions had many similarities and differences. One similarity being is that they both wanted to escape the rule of their King. Second, they both started by an uprising of people against unfair taxation by the monarchy. The French peasants were not represented by the Parliament. It was mainly composed of middle and upper class people. Now, the American colonists were not represented in England because of their lack of presence. Both wanted to set up a Republic, which provided liberty and justice to all classes of citizens. Just like France, the American colonists were composed up mainly middle and lower class citizens. The American Revolution started out by not wanting bloodshed and violence. France started out with violence and bloodshed. (American Revolution)
Another aspect to keep in mind when comparing the French and American revolutions is provocation. Provocation includes such things as land war, class war, tyranny, and grievances. The American Revolution had many altercations with social classes and land. One reason the revolution began was because the British created the Proclamation of 1763, which stated that Americans couldn't move east of the Appalachian Mountains. Land was abundant in America, but the British were tired of battles amongst themselves and the Native Americans.
The Enlightenment period can be accredited to having an impact on the radicalism of the American Revolution. “During the eighteenth century, many educated Americans began to be influenced by the outlook of the European Enlightenment.” Enlightenment thinkers were particularly fond of rationalism and reasoning as a government of human life. John Locke, a philosopher and author of this period, brought up in Two Treatises on Government the idea that the government and the governed should have a mutual agreement. This agreement, known as Locke’s “social contract” held that men should surrender themselves to be governed, and in turn, the government would recognize the natural rights of men. Life, liberty, an...
The church’s robust grip on religious expression shattered as medieval society transitioned into a period known as the Reformation. Characterized by the rejection of common ideology, the Reformation sparked religious curiosity. Reformers such as John Calvin and Martin Luther offered interpretations of the Bible in direct opposition to the Catholic Church’s teachings, forcing Europeans to examine and formulate their own beliefs. This style of thinking was foreign to European society because up to this point in history Europeans were passive absorbers of Catholic Church ideology. Hence, it was natural that an era considered the Age of Enlightenment followed the period of rejection and questioning known as the Reformation. The Age of Enlightenment did not merely confine itself to religious expression, but spread throughout natural and social science. Thus, the Age of Enlightenment marked the beginning of academic and religious philosophy and allowed great minds to think free from restriction and condemnation of established institution. As the perception of natural
Other feel as if lying is perfectly okay to do whenever and wherever. Moreover, In article 1 paragraph 10 it explains, “Not only is lying justified, it is a moral duty.” This displays that some people say that lying is a lifestyle and there is nothing wrong about it since everyone does it. Even if all people lie, it does not make it okay to do, since the majority of people try to avoid them. For evidence, in article 2 paragraph 1 it states, “Truthfulness in statements which cannot be avoided is the formal duty of an individual to everyone, however great may be the disadvantage.” This demonstrates how people do not put enough effort into avoiding the horrible habit of lying. Also, lies may help on the spot on any situation but will come back