How Did The Enlightenment Influence The American Revolution

The Enlightenment greatly affected colonial thinking regarding the religious, political, and governmental processes in America. It was an intellectual and scientific movement of the 17th and18th century which was characterized by the scientific approach to religious, political, social, and economic issues. During this time, many philosophers were influenced, by which in turn greatly affected the colonies. Next to promoting human reasoning which eventually led to America’s independence from Britain, it also influenced American life directly in the colonies. Many ideas of the Enlightenment can be found in the shaping of the Unites States in its formative years. It

The American Revolution started when Britain started to tax the colonists without their consent. The stamp acts started a chain reaction of discontent. The colonists realized they were being treated unfairly and unequal to the citizens in Britain. Around this time when the Americans were facing discontent, many Enlightenment ideas were spreading. The colonists took many ideas like John Locke’s into mind when they planned their revolts. They were fighting for natural rights of

The American Revolution was precipitated by the irritation of the wealthy due to tax acts imposed by Britain on the colonies. The rich did not like the taxes because of the negative effect the tax acts had on personal financial interests, but the Colonial masses were convinced by men like John Dickinson and Patrick Henry; Dickinson wrote extensively on how the British collection of taxes on the Colonies was illegal and Henry believed taxation shouldn’t be allowed unless the Colonies were properly represented. The writings of John Locke were also influential in creating interest for breaking away from Great Britain.

The American Revolution began when all of the laws and taxes were being passed on to the Americans. The Americans eventually fought for and won their independence by rebelling against the British Parliament. Britain's laws made for the Americans were only an advantage to the British, which was unfair.

Period 4 (1450-1750) was characterized by regional networks of trade expanding into fully global networks. This exchange not only spread goods, but also spread ideas that influenced the Enlightenment. These ideas were not just a period 4 thing; they influenced period 5 (1750-1900) as well. The Enlightenment ideas played a large role in influencing the revolutions in North America, Haiti, and France, which were important to their times.

How did the enlightenment ideas influence the revolution? The ideas of the enlightenment influenced the American revolution  and the American government in many ways. one of these ways is an  intellectual movement that spread from Europe to the Americans 2.  influenced the thinking of leader of the American revolution3.

The American Revolution was the American colony’s action against the injustice of the English law in an effort to restore their natural rights. Some of central issues of the war were Parliament passing unnecessary taxation on colonists; such as the stamp and sugar act, due to the French and Indian War. As a result, the colonist rallied “taxation without representation” because the colonists had no say towards the British government, Parliament. During the Revolution, patriotism sparked amongst the colonists. The colonies decided that they will also be fighting for their American independence from Britain.

Several people believed that there were better ways to rule over a country. For example, Thomas Hobbes thought that people were born selfish and couldn't handle making their own decisions so they needed a stronger government; like an absolute monarchy. However, other Enlightenment thinkers believed the opposite. This made people question the way their government ran and people believed they deserved more rights. In the end, we gained a democracy. We created the Declaration of Independence, US Bill of Rights, The US Constitution and may more important documents. Rousseau helped form the ideas behind some of these important documents. He wrote the Social Contract which says that the government should rule according to the will of the people. Adam Smith also said that governments should not interfere with a free market economy. John Locke also believed that people should be able to rebel against their government if it was not protecting the natural rights of the people. Other philosophers contributed to the making of the government as well. Some including Montesquieu and Voltaire. That is how the American government was impacted by the

Throughout the years of 1750-1914, an age of revolutions broke out, causing a global change in politics. The Enlightenment Ideals influenced this worldwide change, from the social contract, separation of power, and natural rights. The social contract influenced the revolutions when all middle/lower class people wanted equality in their country. Natural rights take place in the worldwide revolutions because everyone wants to live with life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Some documents that influence these revolutions are the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, and The Saint-Domingue Constitution of 1801.

The American and French Revolutions were both fundamentally based on the Enlightenment ideas. The main ideas that they followed were by John Locke. His ideas inspired the Americans and the French to have a revolution. In these revolutions, the Americans had success and the French failed. The success that the Americans experienced wad due to the protection of rights they had. These rights are "Life, Liberty and Property." In America a constitution was put together that provided for a stable government and also a representative government. In France failure was caused by chaos, terror, fear and war. The French were unsuccessful because they failed to create a democratic government. In the end they were left with a dictator.

How ideas from the enlightenment influenced the American Revolution Our nation was born from the idea that each person should have their own independence. They thought that the only way to get that independence was to separate ourselves from not only King George III, but the entire country of Great Britain. To make sure that there would not be any more tyrants to lead our country; our founding fathers used ideas from the Enlightenment to establish our government and to ensure our future as a nation. Many philosophers of the Enlightenment period had a crucial influence on the documents that created The United States of America.

The colonial society in British America went through developments in the 1700s. During this time in history, the progress of colonial aptitude and cultural live styles surfaced. These developments are known as the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening in Colonial America and these changes were significant across the American Colonies. During this time frame, the two major revitalizations had effects on the country such as religious activities, politics and social nature. The Enlightenment was considered to be the utmost type of social fulfillment. Some European professors started to inquire on the basis of one’s principles. The impact of Enlightenment allowed individuals to view issues sensibly and devising laws that were proven to be true.

During the American Revolution many of the ideas of Enlightenment were used as the guidelines that influenced things such as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Key figures and innovators like Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, who have been greatly influenced by the ideas of Enlightenment, founded the United States. This is one of the key periods in time that helped shaped the United States to the way it is has become today. The Enlightenment has produced a number amount of books, inventions, scientific discoveries, laws, wars and revolutions. The American and French Revolutions were greatly influenced by the Enlightenment. In this paper, I argue that the Enlightenment shaped the Gettysburg address presented by Lincoln and the American

In 1688 the English overthrew their current king and replaced him with a new king who gave the citizens more rights through the English Bill of Rights (The Historical Background). This was labeled the Glorious Revolution, though it was not nearly as violent as the American Revolution or as gorey as the French Revolution. The reason it was called glorious is because their was no fighting or violence involved in getting the reforms they wanted. Thomas Paine was one of the famous enlightenment thinkers, and he helped inspire the American colonists with his writings in Common Sense. In Common Sense, Thomas Paine emphasizes the idea that England, a tiny island across the sea, should not be able to control the laws and actions of a nation, America, an ocean away. He argued that they couldn’t govern properly without representation from the colonies, since without anyone from America they would have no idea how to truly fix any bad situations in the colonies. The colonists even mentioned the bad governing of England in their Declaration of Independence, “He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of pressing importance,” (Document 2). The king wouldn’t let them pass legislation that was important to them, for selfish reasons. The colonists were also inspired by John Locke. They liked his ideas about natural rights and natural laws. John Locke believed that people had certain unalienable rights, which he dubbed natural rights, that no person should be able to take away. He specifically mentioned life, liberty, and property. This soon became an idea Thomas Jefferson regurgitated in his own words, which were life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The French Revolution was also inspired by the Enlightenment. They had a similar response to John Locke, believing that they should also have certain unalienable rights that not even the first

How the ideas of Enlightenment and American Revolution helped our nation. The American Enlightenment is a period of intellectual ferment in the thirteen american colonies. It lead to the American Revolution and the creation of the American Republic. The American Enlightenment applied scientific reasoning on politics, science and religion, and music as important disciplines and professions worthy of study in colleges. The Enlightenment can also be known as the Age of Enlightenment.