Before the Enlightenment, Around 1754, America was under Great Britain's government. Britain gave America no freedom and nor did they give them a good lifestyle. America became furious with Great Britain when Britain tried to gain more control and began sending troops to the America and forced American people to let the troops stay in their homes. America was also forced to pay taxes which led to the Taxation Act. After suffering with the British America discovered the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment Influence America to a great extent in many ways. One way that the Enlightenment Influenced America was that it brought liberty. Liberty stood for many reasons in the Enlightenment. One way liberty was important to America was the freedom of religion. America felt that the freedom of religion added onto there meaning of freedom in there country. It allowed people to practice and share their own beliefs. Liberty also meant the freedom of press which was helpful for the Enlightenment writers and influenced politicians and readers. Liberty also took a stand for freedom from unreasonable government. This was extremely important to the Americas because they where under an unreasonable Great Britain government. The Enlightenment also influenced equality in America. John Locke was a philosopher that loved the idea of equality. He stated that everyone …show more content…
When America was under British ruling they didn’t get any rights. Without rights they didn’t have a saying in any thing the British applied to them. Now with the individual rights people can have there right to speak and let their voices be heard. They can practice their own religions. They have their rights to keep and bear arms. They also have the right to assembly and petition. This is important to America because it allows people to live freely and allow them have a saying in any policy the government might try to apply to our
Thomas Paine and Benjamin Franklin were two individuals who shaped a new and modern way of life for the common people during the 17th century Enlightenment movement due to the numerous essays, and theories that were put forth by the two. The enlightenment movement happened during the 17th and throughout the 18th century in what is now Europe. It mostly questioned the views and ideas concerning, reason, humanity, and the most coveted topic God. The doubts of the philosophers led to changes. Tremendous improvements and changes were made in the domains of philosophy (how one sees the world), art, and most importantly politics.
Two particular enlightenment thinkers were Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Paine’s main focus in his works was that self-government is possible. He really spoke to the colonists in a way they could understand because he was just like them, meaning he was not well-educated but was able to express his thoughts in a persuasive way that impacted the colonists daily lives. The most important pamphlet he ever wrote was called Common Sense and was read by many people, and was even referenced at the Second Continental Congress. Thomas Jefferson was greatly influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment while he was writing the Declaration of Independence, along with many other of the Founding Fathers as well.
This allowed citizens to obtain rights that threatened the government’s power. “That it is the right of the subjects to petition the king, and all commitments and prosecutions for such petitioning are illegal” (English Bill of Rights). The Constitution similarly allows for petitioning of the government, this can be seen as a way to gather constructive criticism from the general public even if it does weaken the integrity of the government (U.S. Constitution Amendment I). The English Bill of Rights and the Constitution both allow for citizens to own arms. (U.S. Constitution Amendment II)
The Enlightenment and the Great Awakening impacted the colonial society in several ways. The American Enlightenment stemmed from the movement in Europe. It enabled the colonists to become free thinkers and allowed them to consider fee will. First, the affects of the Enlightenment caused both unity and discourse in religion. Most colonists either reject or accept the ideas.
The Enlightenment was a way of thinking about certain topics, and also a specific attitude towards man and how they interacted with the world. It was not so much a movement to gather people to join in but as a group of thinkers who based their ideas and beliefs on reason. The Enlightenment philosophy mainly stressed the idea that liberty and equality were natural human rights. John Locke had a major influence in the manifesting of the Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson. In the document as a whole, the English colonies are stating their reasons as to why they want to separate from Britain under the ruler of King George III.
After the oppression they faced under British government, the early Americans established a Bill of Rights , protecting their rights as American citizens (Beck
America is a country whose ideals are based on freedom and democracy. However these ideas are not original, in fact many of the common ideas found in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence resemble the writings of people in the past. Even early documents pivotal to American independence such as Common Sense by Thomas Paine and the Virginia Declaration of Independence can be traced down to these early documents. The age of enlightenment brought several philosophers with new ideas, such as John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, and Jean Jacques Rousseau. The works of these men helped to inspire a new way of thinking, towards freedom and democracy, the founding fathers embraced these ideas.
One of the ways that the Enlightenment influenced the American revolution were the idea of freedom. The Colonist were under control of Britain but wanted freedom. When they asked Britain for their freedom and Britain didn't do anything about it they rebelled against the government. This also ties into another idea of the Enlightenment that the people are allowed to rebel against the government if they are protecting our natural rights of, life, liberty, and property, which was created by John Locke. The American Revolution was important because it also influenced the French
Caitlin Phillips Ms. Teague World History Honors April 18, 2018 The Enlightenment Thinkers Enlightenment is a new intellectual movement that stressed reason, thought and individual problem solving abilities. The significance of the Enlightenment is the belief in progress, importance of individuals, and that human reason could always solve problems, open questioning of religious belief, and to rely solely on themselves. The American Revolution was caused by John Locke's teachings,natural rights, social contract, and revolutions. One of the most famous revolutions in the American Revolution is The French and Indian War(1684-1763) this war was fought between France and England for land in America. England won the war but left with a
Enlightenment in the Revolutions Ideas during the revolution brought about equal rights, independence from colonists, and a responsible government in Canada. Without these ideas being brought up by various individuals, our world would be in a very different position that it is today. One of the most prominent ideas that sprouted from the revolution was equality. Before this, different people were treated less because of things such as class, race, and sex.
The Influential Enlightenment Age of Colonial America Although the enlightenment started in Europe it didn't end there many of the ideas and events from the enlightenment spurred out to other parts of the world most particularly the American colonies, this helped them to discover themselves and build on their nation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to affect their happiness. Thomas Hobbes book “Leviathan” is one of the ideas that made it to the American colonies and they most definitely took it into consideration since the parts of their government are based on these matters. Another major idea was the “English Bill Of Rights”. Yes America copied England even though America hated England they couldn’t pass up good intellect when they see it.
Without this piece of The Declaration of Independence America would likely not be the melting pot it has become. The idea of God given right was also influential in the fight for women’s right and later on in the civil rights movement. More recently in the fight for gay marriage the argument was helped by this basic concept. In addition, the constitution was set out to protect the American People’s God given right and is still the law of the land in
Enlightenment was created by the English philosopher John Locke. The ideas that were influenced by enlightenment were life, liberty, and property. This also gave to the idea of natural right. Enlightenment influenced the way people finally realized that divine right wasn’t right and start to doubt it. Throughout time enlightenment has influenced a lot of important events in history.
The citizens of America need unalienable rights to protect themselves from the government. The unalienable rights are the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In the document Andrew Sullivan
Enlightenment views on government and policy helped the two new governments create their own unique system for governing. One ideal of enlightenment was equality. America believed in equality before the law. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created