One Enlightenment Thinker Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The age of the Enlightenment was driven by three ideologies: individualism, relativism, and rationalism. Individualism emphasized the idea of all humans having sufficient rights in society, which affected the general perception of authority. Relativism focused on how all religions, cultures, and values deserved an equal amount of credibility, which led to a change in international policies. Rationalism identified that man could discover the answer to anything by using reasoning, which caused a stronger development of human philosophy. Together, these three beliefs were the underpinnings of the Enlightenment.

During the Enlightenment new ideas were created that greatly impacted society. The new ideas created during the Enlightenment impacted society so much that many of the ideas were utilized when forming the government of the United States. Three European men Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau each had their own unique views of what would be best for society. Each philosopher had ideas that would make today 's society more ideal and with hard work are possible to achieve.

The ideas of the Enlightenment influenced the American Revolution and the formation of the American Government. Firstly, The Enlightenment was a philosophical evolution that emphasized the aged ideas of the Greeks and Romans. In addition, the major philosophers of this time period were Voltaire, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Rousseau, Adam Smith and Isaac Newton. Their ideals include having an absolute monarch as a government (T.H), the separation of powers (Mont.), the government should not interfere with a free market economy (A.S), the freedom of speech (Volt.), the government could be overruled (J.L), and the government should rule according to the will of the people. Nevertheless, these ideals are important because they shaped the government that we have today.

From the late 1500’s to the late 1700’s, the Enlightenment period occurred. Thinkers and philosophers across Europe created ideas that changed the way people thought. For example, John Locke thought of the idea that everyone had natural rights. These rights consisted of the right to life, liberty, and property. Voltaire had the idea that the power lies in the hands of the people and their elected government.

The age of reason and enlightenment was a period where people were trapped and confined to one way of life, one way of living or job. An example of this is in a fascist society where you bow down to one person and one person only. John Locke, Mary Wollenstone, Voltaire, Adam Smith were all philosophers in the Age of Enlightenment. John Locke wrote in 1690 The Second Treatise on Civil Government this showed what his opinion on government is. Voltaire’s Letters Concerning The English Nation says that if many religions in a government that allows it.

The Enlightenment was a period of time that stressed the importance of reason and individual ideas. Many philosophers published works criticizing a country’s monarch or divulging the flaws they saw in a system within the government, such as the justice system. The Enlightenment also stressed the importance of education, and as a result of this, literacy rates experienced a major upward trend. Now able to read the philosopher’s works, a larger sum of people now were educated on the corruptions within their government. This caused a questioning of traditional practices, and people began to believe they could revise their government. These new ideas played as a catalyst to acts of resistance, or in a broader retrospect, the French Revolution.

“The most perfect education, in my opinion,is…to enable the individual to attain such habits of virtue as well render [her] independent” (Doc D). The Enlightenment was a time period from the early 17th century to the late 18th century. There were many philosophers who contributed to making The Enlightenment. John Locke was a man who wanted freedom of government during 1690 (17th century) in England. He wanted this because he believed everyone was born with natural rights and the government should respect them and whoever didn’t, the people would have the right to impeach them.

The Enlightenment was a movement that shunned superstition and was more in favor with a scientific explanation of the world. The Enlightenment was also known as the Age of Reason or Age of Enlightenment. It started in Europe and America around the 17th and 18th centuries. The Enlightenment was about people who used their critical thinking skills to argue knowledge, education, politics, religion, and art. The enlightenment produced an increased number of inventions, books, scientific findings, political laws, and revolutions.

Enlightenment Influence on American Government and Revolution The Enlightenment era was around the 18th century. A time where many different philosophers imputed many of their own thoughts and beliefs on religion, human rights, the government and other important situations involving our country today. Many figures associated with the Enlightenment were, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, Voltaire, Baron Montesquieu, and Beccaria, to name a few.

The Enlightenment was a European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries that emphasized the use of reason and individualism. It was mostly influenced by Descartes, Locke, and Newton. The idea of enlightened absolutism valued reason rather than faith. Enlightened monarchs had total control but embraced rationality. Being an enlightened ruler meant allowing religious tolerance, freedom of speech, and the right to hold private property.

Those who were considered as general leaders of the Enlightenment years were thought to be very intellectual and were held by most people in the highest regard throughout the colonial society. Some of the more common names spoken back then were of men such as “John Locke, Voltaire, Adam Smith, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison” (Sage, 2013, para. 3). Jean-Jacques Rousseau was another prominent thinker as well. He believed that all “individuals had natural rights to life, liberty, and property, which even a king or pope could not deny” (Schultz, 2010, p. 69). Rousseau, along with countless others fought for the rights of the people while insisting that each person is afforded the lawful right to live their own life and to cast aside the authoritativeness of others if they saw fit in doing

Different factors had a part to play in starting or even propelling ‘the Age of Enlightenment’, including the rule of the Church and State which experienced a power struggle among them, in addition to the Western discovery of latest societies with noticeably exclusive cultural traditions and norms. Many intellectuals felt unhappy with the fixed social styles amongst their very own collectives, and angry at their governments' refusal to provide non-public rights. The lasting political effect of the Enlightenment can't be overstated. At the least three fundamental political revolutions came about throughout this time period in Britain, America, and France.

Enlightenment was a time period that revolved around philosophy, science, and society, and is less focused on religion. Enlightenment includes a concept proposed by the philosopher John Locke that all humans, when they are born, are entitled to basic human rights. The Enlightenment also includes the thought that things in the universe are constant, leading away from such a strong reliance on God. The concept of Enlightenment inspired many proceeding declarations, including the USA’s declaration because it encouraged equality to all men. John Locke was an Enlightenment thinker who proposed that as humans, we are entitled to basic rights and that when we are born we are blank canvases and are thereafter altered by our surroundings.

The Enlightenment placed great emphasis on the individualism and secularism. For example, John Locke introduced ideas of natural rights. These natural rights were to be protected by the government, and if they were not, the people had the right to overthrow the government. For the first time, colonists were given the opportunity to have power and a say in government. Power came from the individual rather than a religious authority like it previously was before.

The Enlightenment was a period during the 1600 and 1700s where authority, power, government and law was questioned by philosophers. The causes of the Enlightenment was the Thirty Years’ War, centuries of mistreatment at the hands of monarchies and the church, greater exploration of the world, and European thinkers’ interest in the world (scientific study). A large part of the Enlightenment was natural law, which was the belief that people should live their lives and organize their society on the basis of rules and precepts laid down by nature or God; the principles of the Enlightenment in the 1600s through the 1700s influenced the development of the USA by advocating religious and social freedom, freeing the people from oppression, and providing