How Did The American Revolution Implement Dangerous Enlightenment

Historians have argued whether the American Revolution was a conservative attempt to protect the colonist’s traditional rights as Englishmen or a radical attempt to implement dangerous enlightenment ideas. I believe that the American Revolution was a radical attempt to implement dangerous enlightenment ideas. Colonists new government, their acts of treason and new identity were mostly based on enlightenment ideas.

Colonial leaders used Enlightenment ideas to vindicate freedom from Britain(Fiore Notes).

The Declaration of Independence was firmly based on the ideas of John Locke. The document stated,“that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and

The policy required all imports to be carried in English ships which meant they could only trade with England. by trading with France and Spain (Kagan 427)). Parliament was very much aware of this and the current prime minister, Robert Walpole, would say “Let sleeping dogs lie” (Kagan, 487). This meant he wanted to pursue peace abroad and supported the status quo at home (Kagan, 487). However, when George Grenville became prime minister he attempted to re-establish the policy, but colonists still continued to trade (Fiore Notes). “The colonists had asked for the same political rights as people in Britain, they said, but the king had stubbornly refused. Therefore, the colonists were justified in rebelling against a tyrant who had broken the social contract.” (Beck 641). According to John Locke, if a government fails to protect people 's rights: liberty, property, and life, citizens would have the right to rebel (Fiore notes). George III and the British parliament were attacking their liberties. Consequently, the colonists employed a theory that had developed to justify an aristocratic rebellion (Kagan