The American Enlightenment Philosophy

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

Critics propose that just because something cannot be confirmed, does not mean that it is not acknowledged or that there is no reason in trusting it. Rene Descartes wanted certain knowledge to be absolute, although this is not the only option, and others would claim that justified knowledge is adequate. Other philosophers claim skepticism is imperious because a skeptic cannot know that skepticism is absolute.

A group was eventually formed in 1769, which was known as the American Philosophical Society, and allowed for leading colonial thinkers like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson to analyze their ideas to improve society, eventually leading to the need of the American Revolution. These core ideas of the Enlightenment were the basis of the Declaration of Independence, as well as the Constitution.

the claim to the Crown, and he believed that individuals held the right to revolt against a

The Enlightenment was the root of many of the ideas of the American Revolution. It was a movement that focused mostly on freedom of speech, equality, freedom of press, and religious tolerance. The American Revolution was the time period where America tried to gain its independence from England. They got influenced very much from many philosophers. That will be discussed throughout the essay. The Enlightenment ideas were the main influences for American Colonies to become their own nation.

This research paper was written for the Advanced Placement United States History class taught by Mr. Roger Brady. It focuses on the rise of the ideas of the Enlightenment and how these ideas were relevant in the American Revolution, and the creation of the modern American Society. It also provides a throughout explanation of what is the Enlightenment, who are its main exponents, and how the ideas of the Enlightenment spread. Lastly, it also depicts how the colonists were mistreated and mocked by the British Empire before the ideas of the

The Enlightenment was a period in the eighteenth century where change in philosophy and cultural life took place in Europe. The movement started in France, and spread to Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Germany at more or less around the same time, the ideas starting with the most renowned thinkers and philosophers of the time and eventually being shared with the common people. The Enlightenment was a way of thinking that focused on the betterment of humanity by using logic and reason rather than irrationality and superstition. It was a way of thinking that showed skepticism in the face of religion, challenged the inequality between the kings and their people, and tried to establish a sound system of ethics. The ideas behind the

The Enlightenment era was a new intellectual movement that stressed reason and thought and the power of individuals to solve problems. Even though different philosophers approached their goal differently, they achieved it none the less. They all approached their goal differently due to their different upbringings, their different backgrounds, and most importantly their different environments. A few among the many enlightened thinkers were Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Baron Do Montesquieu, and Jean Jacques Rousseau. While some of their idea’s are not used in modern society, they were all instrumental to the modern society we live in today.

During the Renaissance, people began to stray away from the Catholic Church, and began thinking for themselves. While doing so, people began to reconnect to old Roman traditions. Subsequently, the Enlightenment was born soon after. The Enlightenment was a new way of thinking also known as The Age Of Reason. John Locke and Thomas Hobbes are two famous philosophers of the Enlightenment that are known for having two different views on government.

England created its own failure. When Great Britain’s conquerors came to America, they tried to educate Americans under their religious beliefs. According to English, spreading their religious beliefs among the settlers was the only way to control and manipulate colonists. Years later, a few of the wealthiest Americans had the opportunity to go to Europe to have a schooling education while the rest of the population had to stay in their homeland following biblical studies. Without thinking that education could be the clue to liberate American colonies; the process of literacy continued for several years. Americans with foreign education brought European’s Enlightenments; then, those ideas were distributed among the people creating several consequences such the Common Sense pamphlet and the beginning of the Declaration of the Independence. Therefore, the Enlightenment era was the period where most of the illiterate people disappeared in America.

To begin, Philosophes of The Enlightenment were truly remarkable. They are constantly thinking of ways to better the sake of the world. Voltaire, John Locke, Adam Smith and Mary Wollstonecraft all had one purpose, to unite everyone. The main idea that they were trying to imply is that everyone should interact with each other to make the world a better place. Religion should not be separated, government all be ruled by one branch, women be inferior to men and lastly the people who are living in a bad government should have right to abolish the government and prevent it from going bad.Concurrently, you might ask, why his was their main idea? It's quite simple, These 4 profound Philosophes were alive in an era that wasn't the best. There was chaos among the people and government, which led to society to begin to tear up. The Philosophes wanted to change that they wanted to live in a world where you can pass past a religion with a friendly hello not, "cut one another’s throats out".This idea was a key part of their thinking in three areas: change in Government, Unity of religion , and natural rights. All three of these main ideas had such a big impact on how time played a role in society.

The Enlightenment was a European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition. The French Revolution gave rise to Enlightenment ideas as for it gave people a language to articulate injustices. During the time of the French Revolution, there were many social conflicts that cause individuals to question the ideas of the Enlightenment and present their views and thoughts of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was initially seen as positive effect; however, the social conflicts and the amount of violence and events that occurred within the French Revolution resulted in people challenging the Enlightenment views of society, politics, and human nature. Documents two, three, four, five, six, ten, and eleven are representations of how the social conflicts caused people to seek freedom and better privileges, and uses their view of Enlightenment to achieve their goal.

Neither the United States Constitution, nor the Declaration of Independence, were written in an ideological vacuum. Rather, the ideas expressed by the various philosophers during the century and leading up to the American Revolution had tremendous influence over the Founders of the United States. These ideas came together in the creation of the U.S. constitution, working in tandem to lay the foundation for the way the government should be structured, as well as the core philosophy behind the country.

By the late eighteenth century, the Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason as it was called had begun to rapidly spread across Europe. People began believing in the ideals of popular government, the centrality of economics to politics, secularism, and progress. This cultural movement was sparked by intellectuals and commonwealth thinkers such as the influential writer John Locke and the famous scientist Isaac Newton, both who emphasized the fact that man, by the use of reason, would be able to solve all of his problems-whether it be problems with the government, morals or the society. However, these ideals weren’t just limited to the European nations where they had first begun. On the other side of the world, off in the United States,

Classical liberalism is the transition from focusing on government to focusing on the rights of individuals. This transition came about during the time of the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century. The Enlightenment period was when man started to have more faith in his own reasoning. People began to look for evidence on their beliefs themselves and to find proof on these beliefs, so that they could come up with their own opinions on things. One way that they did this was by going back and rereading Roman and Greek texts and retranslating these texts. This new way of thinking also caused the Protestant Reformation to occur. Some of the most influential Enlightenment writers were John Locke, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and the people of France’s National Constituent Assembly.