How Did The Enlightenment Contribute To The American Revolution

Consequently, a limited government was created in response to these new thoughts. Furthermore, this new type of government was extremely revolutionary because it changed the way that the citizens had thought or viewed about the government. Two Enlightenment philosophers that influenced the creation of the government were John Locke and Montesquieu. John Locke had the belief that everyone had natural rights (life, liberty, property) and that if the government failed to protect these rights, they could be overthrown and replaced. Also, Montesquieu’s idea of the separation of powers helped shape the government.

Unit 2: Absolutism and Revolution Portfolio In this unit, you examined the American and French Revolutions. The American Revolution, sparked by conflict over British rule and influenced by Enlightenment ideas, broke colonial ties with a monarchy and yielded a new nation. The French Revolution, inspired by the American Revolution as well as the Enlightenment, freed French citizens from an absolute monarchy and secured equality before the law for all male citizens. In your unit study, you explored the causes and effects, characteristics, as well as the consequences, of each of these revolutions. What did they have in common?

The author’s purpose in writing The Marketplace of Revolution is to explain how Colonial America performed popular mobilization, revolutionize the way that people think of the American Revolution, and the causes of it also from an entirely new light that is incredibly different from any other historian that has ever told the story of the uprising of the American colonies against the all-powerful rule of the British monarchy. The author also sets out to show that the popular mobilization was not just a fluke or something that just come out of nowhere. This tells the story of why so many people came to the same conclusion of, “Give me liberty or give me death!” and fought back against seemingly insurmountable forces. The colonists had to overcome all the things that separated them and become united as a singular force. (pg.

Locke wants people to stand up for the rights that they deserved. Jefferson wanted to create a government contract for the people, which would allow for them to become an independent nation. Locke’s declaration creates revolts and made the American people start thinking about what they wanted for themselves. His declaration caused damage to the great nation until Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence which united the people. The social contract in John Locke’s declaration is the State of Nature.

They petitioned Congress to end the slave trade and state legislatures to abolish slavery. They repeatedly pointed out the disagreement between American ideals of liberty and equality and the base reality of slavery. President Thomas Jefferson recognized that the Virginian slaves had been motivated by the same ideals that had inspired white colonists to revolt against Britain. Jefferson told the minister to assure the British that the rebel slaves were not criminals, but men aspiring for freedom. The negotiations with the British were unsuccessful, and most of the accused conspirators were sold as slaves to Spain and Portugal 's New World colonies.

The American Revolution emerged due to increased tensions between the American Colonists and the British government during the colonist’s growing desire for Independence. As a result of the Revolution, documents outlining an independent government were shaped. The first being the Articles of Confederation followed by the Constitution. The second amendment of the Constitution of the United States was of particular importance and necessity during the Revolutionary era due to its significance in the Militia, the people’s need to protect themselves, and as assurance that colonists received the necessary freedoms they fought to achieve. The people of the thirteen colonies during the Revolutionary War, wanted nothing more than freedom from the British crown.

A revolution is a large-scale rebellion with the intent to change or get rid of the current political system. The American Revolution was a fight to be free from British rule. People were tired of being controlled. The colonists of America wanted to create their own government where they could get what they left Europe for. While some may argue that the American Revolution did not change life for minorities, the American Revolution changed the political, economic, and social atmosphere and set the stage for future change.

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 Sons of Liberty were the organizers of many of these early demonstrations. They used intimidation and physical abuse, like tar and feathering, to force the resignation of several British tax collectors. An iconic act of colonial resistance, the burning of the Gaspee, a British patrol ship, in 1772 rekindled the flame of public rebellion after the calm that followed the Boston Massacre. While the Boston Tea Party is more well known, the burning of the Gaspee presented a more unified colonial opinion against Britain while the Tea Party left some divided. The final act of resistance, before official war, was the battle at Lexington and Concord in 1775.

Webster’s definition of revolutionary is: “constituting or bringing about a major or fundamental change.” I believe that “revolutionary” does mean there is a fundamental change but I also believe it means a new innovative change that is brought to all lives. The effects of the American Revolution changed the lives of white men (wealthy and non-wealthy), women, and African Americans. The Stamp Act of 1765, “was wide-reaching and offended virtually every free colonist” (Chapter 5 Study Outline). “Opposition to the Stamp Act was the first great drama of the Revolutionary era and the first major split between the colonists and Great Britain over the meaning of freedom” (Chapter 5 Study Outline). The East India Company was financially failing, so the British government agreed to market the company’s Chinese tea in North America.

Was the American Revolution really Revolutionary? The American Revolution began in 1775 and ended in 1789 with the result of the Constitution being ratified. A revolution is a forcible overthrow of a government or a social order in favor of a new system. The American Revolution was revolutionary because rebellion was included by the angry citizens despising British rule, economics, and a change in politics. Rebellion and violence were rampant because the thirteen colonies were all fed up with British rule.

The American revolution was absolutely justified. A great way to justify any actions, is to take a look at the results that arose from those actions. America dignified freedom to the people that colonized it. When Great Britain attempted to suppress the colonists freedoms the colonialists only reacted. Thomas Jefferson said it best.

The American Revolution as we know it did not have to happen. History is multifaceted, and the revolution is no exception to that rule, but while there is little doubt at some point a revolution would have occurred, why did we end up with the revolution we got? A broad host of factors contributed to our revolution, but ultimately it was the economic conditions of the time period, the political traditions of the soon to be American people, and the proto-foreign relations of the colonies that painted the picture that would become the American Revolution. The policies enacted by the British against the colonies after the French and Indian War infringed upon their strong independent spirit; while the colonists pulled one way, the British pulled the other, eventually backfiring and paving the way to revolution. The seeds of the revolution were sown in the French and Indian War, a conflict which turned the geopolitical landscape of North America on its head.

I believe that the American Revolution was revolutionary because there were many events, impacts, and effects after the war was over. When something is “Revolutionary” it means that it causes a dramatic or drastic change. In 1776, the Declaration of Independence was written all because the people needed to be heard, from document 2. What if the King listened, would there still have been a war? I do not believe so because so much time was spent trying to get the people’s point across, and it worked, after the war.

It occurred because of many factors some being, ideas of enlightenment, an irresponsible aristocracy, and depression in 1789, all contributed to the occurrence. The American Revolution has a great effect on Europe, not only served as inspiration for France, but also showed that the liberal political ideas of enlightment were more than just something some intellectuals said. By declaring independance, America proved that it is possiblr to overthrow an old system and inspired many European nations and colonies to revolt. In 1799, Bonaparte organized a takeover abolishing the Directory and appointing himself as France’s “first consul”. This event marked the end of The French Revolution and the beginning of the Napoleonic