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 Age of Enlightenment or Age of reason was a developmental philosopher movement in the 17th –century. The movement highlighted reason and individualism rather than tradition. Its purpose was to challenge the traditional rituals and open minds to a new way of thinking and rationalizing. Contrary to what some people may think these ideas, theories and new way of thinking are still relevant in today’s society. These men had a profound impact on government and their ideas helped shape the government into what it is today.
The Enlightenment was an extraordinary milestone in the history of mankind. Brilliant minds came together and started to realize that the world around them was built on science. Instead of assuming divine intervention was behind the miracles of the universe, they realized that there were logical explanations. Along with the ideas of reason and knowledge, the Enlightenment also began creating thoughts of liberty and equality. These concepts quickly caught on and after a number of years, they were inspiring the independence-seeking Patriots in the eighteenth century.
In Europe, fields such as science, communication, philosophy, and politics flourished during 1680 and 1810, in a period referred to the Enlightenment or the Age of Reason. The increase of progressive ideas cultivated new forms of government and natural rights for citizens. As the ideas spread throughout Europe, the newly formed American colonies began to share these ideas. The Age of Reason greatly impacted the ideas of the American Revolution and the forefathers of the American government.
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 Enlightenment was a very important time for history. It was a time when people started to discuss the rights and freedoms that they believed that they or others deserved. The Enlightenment was a an International movement that occurred during the seventeenth and eighteenth century. It happened along with the rise of scientific thinking, religious thought and discussed the importance of nature and the natural order as a source of knowledge. They emphasised the idea of intellectual freedom and human rights which led to a conflict between the supporters of these new ideas and the political and religious establishments that had .
The Enlightenment began with the English philosopher John Locke. It was an era of spreading faith in reason, in reason, and in universal rights and laws (The Enlightenment in Europe). The ideas that were embodied by Enlightenment were life, liberty, and property. It also led to the idea of natural right. The Enlightenment influenced the way people finally realized that divine right wasn’t right and start to doubt it.
The Enlightenment went against the political views, and morals of the Age of Absolutism. The Enlightenment challenged the views of the Age of Absolutism because it questioned the traditional authority established during this period by taking away the idea of single power, that had benefited the monarchs and the wealthy, and introducing the new idea of ruling for the good of the people instead. During the Age of Absolutism, rulers believed in the idea of single power, but during the Enlightenment, people started to challenge this idea and introduced a new form of government free of tyranny. Document 1, a primary source written by Machiavelli in the 15th century, states, “Men have less hesitation in offending a man who is loved than one who is feared . . .
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.
Enlightenment was a time of embracing logic and reasoning whilst rejecting untested beliefs and superstition. This time period occurred from the year 1694 until 1795. During this time writers used their medium of the written word to express their beliefs based on logic while denouncing old-world ideologies . During Enlightenment human nature was often put under scrutiny as thinkers strived to find what qualities resulted in the best possible human. In this piece of writing, the reader will be able to see the opinions of human nature held by three great thinkers from this time period: Voltaire, Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe.
“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.
I The Age of Enlightenment also known as the Age of Reason is a name given to the period of Western Civilisation that followed the Renaissance. The Enlightenment occurred roughly from mid of 17th Century upto the end of 18th century. In the words of M. H. Abrams, “The name Enlightenment applied to an intellectual movement and cultural ambience which developed in
“God, who has given the world to men in common, has also given them reason to make use of it to the best advantage of life and convenience” (Locke, 35). The Scientific Revolution concentrated on understanding the physical world through astronomical and mathematical calculations, or testable knowledge. The Enlightenment focused more on “Spreading of faith in reason and in universal rights and laws” (Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, 535). While the Scientific Revolution preceded the Enlightenment, both time periods sought to limit and challenge the power of the Church, through the spread of science, reason and intellect, and political philosophies. The Scientific Revolution began with Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1542) and Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) wanting to understand the movement of the planets beyond what they authorities had told them.
As Roy Porter reiterated in The Enlightenment 2001 (Document 5), many of Europe’s great minds concluded that questioning faith in the Bible and relying on other thinkers was not the answer to understanding man’s history and destiny. Man’s nature was not properly known by the latter part of the seventeenth century and it was unanimously decided that using the scientific method was the only way to gain full knowledge of it. In Progress of the Human Minds 1793 (Document 2), Nicolas de Condorcet believed that if the citizen was taught everything he needed to know to be able to employ his labors, acknowledge his rights and be able to exert them, and to no longer be the dupe of the church, then the result would be greater progress as a society. Adam Ferguson, in The Progressive Character of Human Nature 1792 (Document 12), believed that for society to continue to improve and grow, the older generation must continue to pass on their knowledge for the generations to come. Education was thought to be a necessary tool during the Enlightenment in order for the progression
The Enlightenment was a time where people were beginning to find out that they could speak out against their oppressive leaders and bring to light many of the wrongdoings happening within the many institutions at the time. Two main philosophes who argued for the Enlightenment and its benefits to society in the 18th century were Immanuel Kant and Voltaire, also known as Francois Marie Arouet. These two prominent thinkers criticized the current social, political, and religious systems in place at the time. While both philosophers argue that the Enlightenment is essential to human growth, they both use different ideas and criticisms to prove their point. Both Kant and Voltaire argued that Enlightenment is important in mankind’s growth as a whole
