The Enlightenment Principles Of Rationalism And Universal Rights

One reason that The Declaration of Independence was so influential was that Thomas Jefferson’s claims against the King of England were easy to understand and logical. Typical complaints include “For quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us;” and “For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.” Jefferson uses plain language that everyone can understand to point out large injustices done by the king. His statements about the King are short and to the point. He does not waste any words or bore the reader with abstract writing or excess words and thoughts. He goes from one point to the next to the next in such a fashion that the reader’s concentration is never broken. His points are logical and everyone living in the colonies at that time and many people around the world probably had some idea of the incidents behind all his grievances against the king. Jefferson raps up the injustices done by the king by declaring the United Colonies to be free and independent states.

Before the Declaration of Independence was signed, colonists were treated very unfairly by their mother-countries leader, King George III. King George had not helped the 13 colonies in any way and really only used them to gain wealth for Great Britain and himself. George’s method of gaining wealth from the 13 colonies was that they could only trade to Great Britain, which did not help the 13 colonies expand as a country. Also, he heavily taxed colonists on the western hemisphere because he needed aid to pay off his former war debts. The colonists were not happy about his acts because it gave them little opportunity of expanding their wealth or fortune which, is the main idea of coming to the “New World.” This made colonists very angry now was thickening the hatred for their leader they were now just as motivated as the politicians; resulting in, plenty of change, leading to the American Revolution. Jefferson understood the colonists and he was able to express or summarize their ideas, thoughts, and motivations through the document; “We the People”. Even though the Declaration of Independence was a main contribute to the ending of the American Revolution, the war had lasted an extra five years with Britain. Britain did not want to lose the 13 colonies

brought these new ideas and changes to light. Enlightenment’s main goal was to seek out

Thomas Jefferson considers himself a contributor to the Age of Enlightenment. Through many of his writings he expands on the philosophies of the great European writers of that era - Rousseau, Locke, Hume, and Leibniz. In “The Declaration of Independence,” Jefferson directly adopts several themes found in the work of French writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Rousseau’s “The Origin of Civil Society,” provides a foundation for most of Jefferson’s ideas in “The Declaration of Independence.”

The colonists began to question if independence was for them when parliament passed the Stamp Act. The stamp act was meant to raise money for British soldiers and also to pay off some of Britain’s debt. When the King/Parliament passed laws the colonists believed that if they weren’t there when the laws were passed they were illegal (according to the Bill of Rights), which is where the slogan “no taxation against representation” came in to play. The people wanted to separate from England because of how the king only passed laws that benefited him. Colonists had a problem with their government. Thomas Paine says that government is a necessary evil. He says that their government is being hampered by oppression; he believed, along with other people, that the King was leading cruelly and not caring about his people. The Declaration of Independence also says, “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government”. Thomas Jefferson is saying that the laws that the King/Parliament were passing were becoming destructive and it was the right of the people to become independent or change their

The Age of Reason helped shape the Declaration of Independence by the way it made a man view himself, the pursuit of knowing things and the universe. The three main points are the equality, liberty, and individualism. The purpose of this essay is that the Second Continental Congress was developed on July 4th 1776. The thirteen American colonies were free of Great Britain, it was first drafted as a revolutionary plan. At that time these individual rights were unheard of "all men are created equal" and "are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights," among are "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

During the 18th century a European intellectual movement referred to as the Age of Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason, shaped the Western world with the introduction of concepts such as natural rights and the separation of powers. These concepts influenced significant events in history such as the French Revolution, which later on inspired and influenced the American Revolution against Great Britain’s heavy taxation. Furthermore, these significant events introduced the foundations of an ideal government, which stemmed from the ideas of the philosophes of the Age of Enlightenment. For example, John Locke argued that the duty of a government was “to protect the natural rights of the people” ("Foundations of American Government"). Also, Montesquieu

Some of the leaders of the American Revolution were influenced by Enlightenment ideas which are, freedom of speech, equality, freedom of press, and religious tolerance. American colonists did not have these rights, in result, they rebelled against England for independence. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote about American's natural rights to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." These ideas came from the Enlightenment, the ideals led towards the American Revolution soon after (Fisk). "The American Revolution must be considered as an anticolonial war for independence, not only a war of liberation from overseas rule but a war for freedom. The American Revolution was a movement to fulfill aspirations to acquire more property" (Morris, 3).

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

To begin, the main objective of enlightenment was to development the society using reasons, and stimulating the rational though. Enlightenment, also, created a path for independent thought, on the areas of physics, mathematics, politics, economics, and medicine. John Locke made a huge impact on the America colonist by stating the natural rights of life, liberty and property. The most important federal papers were the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. In 1776, the Continental congress declared the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence is extremely important because Americans were stating that they were able to hold their own grown and did not need any of Great Britain’s laws.

In the 17th and 18th Century, a new age erupted in Europe that shaped the world and it’s ideas to this day, called the Enlightenment Period or the Age of Reason. During the Enlightenment Period, hundreds of individual ideas were expressed between philosophers as well as the citizens of England and France. Interestingly enough, most of these ideas seemed to share one central theme together. This theme was around individual freedoms that people can and should have, and the natural rights they should also hold. In these discussions of individual freedoms, sprouted innovative ideas regarding politics, economics, religion, and social rights.

Most revolutions in history end unfortunately with the crumbling dictatorship being exchanged for a mirrored or worse dominion, but that is not the case regarding Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence. The Declaration of Independence’s creation was a significant event owing to the fact that it is one of the first historical documents to implement a secular system including the freedom of religion and speech. Historians talk about the mutually inclusive Enlightenment going on at the same time as the writing of the Declaration, which influenced Jefferson, as mentioned: “Many critics have recognized the influence of Enlightenment writers on Jefferson’s prose, praising its clarity, subtlety, persuasiveness, eloquence, and above

Enlightenment ideas helped the Americans fight against British rule and create a new nation. With the fight for their new nation came the Declaration of Independence. This document is based on the beliefs of John Locke. John’s teachings mostly focused on self-government and natural rights. John Locke Believed that everyone was created equal with the same three natural rights. The Declaration of Independence argued for natural rights and equality as well. The Declaration of Independence was influenced by Locke’s idea of Equal rights and self-government. They liked the idea of a Democracy, the rule of the people. The United States’ Declaration of Independence states. The American colonist separated from Britain because King George 3rd was not governing the people correctly. For example, he created “Taxation without Representation”. Taxation without Representation is when the American Colonist were being taxed unfairly. John Locke believed the government was there to protect the people, and if they were not being protected they have the right to rebel against the ruler. This is exactly what the American colonist did. The document by the colonies declaring separation from Britain, stated. John Locke’s beliefs of self-government influenced the colonies to rebel and become it’s own

Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, the American Declaration of Independence echoes Locke’s ideology of revolt as well as his view that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. Following Locke and Montesquieu, Jefferson justified the establishment of a social contract between rulers and ruled as the principal means of fulfilling natural law to life, liberty, and the pursuit of

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,