The Enlightenment DBQ

Following the Renaissance of Europe in the 17th century was an important intellectual movement: the Enlightenment. During the Enlightenment, people started to rethink their priorities as well as the role of the government in their lives. Philosophers also challenged how governments were running and stood up for the freedoms of the people, including the freedom of religion and speech, aiming to limit the power of the king. The Enlightenment helped to spur many revolutions, including the American and French revolutions. Other things that helped spur political revolutions around the world was the abuse of power by the kings and the government (political), inspiration from successful revolts as well as a want for unification with others (social), and unfair economical strains on the

middle/working class.

In document 1, the Bill of Rights from both America and England mention the tyrannical actions of the previous government as well as the new rights of the people in accordance to those situations.

It also mentions that the government can’t make decisions without the approval of the people. This shows that before, the government head, or the king, has abused his power to force the people to comply with what he says, ignoring the needs of the people. This can spark a revolution because when people feel that the government is hurting them more than helping them, or more into helping themselves than the people, they turn against the government and strive to make a new one that will work in the interest of the people. This can be seen in document 3 where Locke, an Enlightenment thinker, and Jefferson, one of the founding fathers, say that if the government tries to take away the rights of the people or if it becomes destructive, then the people have the right to abolish it and establish a new government. This also proves that the government has taken away the rights of the people before, or else they would not have mentioned this right in documents like the Declaration of

Independence.

As we can see in document 4, the Enlightenment was the start of an age of revolution. Because people were “promoting the welfare of the people” and encouraging “shared government power”, countries like America and France started to push back against the government's’ tyrannical rule and established their own governments. As we can see from the chart, one revolution led to the next, which led to the next, which led to the next, setting off a chain reaction of revolts and new independent countries. Therefore, one of the factors of the Age of Revolutions was the success stories of revolutions in other parts of the world. Another big (social) reason for this chain reaction of revolutions was the want for unification. In document 2, we see the ambitious dream of Bolivar; how even though they defeated their old governments, their new governments have to be strong enough to unify the people into one power. He feels that it would be better if all the newly independent states unified into one strong country that has the same law, the same heart, the same mindset. This means that Bolivar and leaders like Bolivar supported the thought of revolting because they wanted the colonies to become their own independent, unified state.