The Importance Of The Enlightenment

During the 17th and 18th century the “Age of Reason” the philosophers showed many new ways of showing natural laws within nation, government, and rights that helped mankind. As the philosophers went to discuss political, religious, economics, and social questions they helped shape the democratic world we live in today.

John Locke’s idea of Natural Rights created a whole new aspect of how the government should be constructed. Natural Rights is the freedoms people are born with and should be protected by the government, if not then the citizens have the right to overthrow the government since their rights are not being preserved. This Enlightenment ideal is an important aspect in both today’s world and during revolutionary periods

In his Second Treatise on Government Locke focus’ on liberalism & capitalism, defending the claim that men are by nature free and equal against the idea that God had made all people subject to a king. He argued that people have ‘natural rights’, such as the right to life, liberty, and property, that hold the foundation for the major laws of a society. He says, “…we must consider, what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons as they think fit.” (2nd Treatise, Chapter 2, sec 4). John Locke used this claim, that all men were naturally free and equal, for understanding the idea of a government as a result of a social contract. This is where people in the state of nature transfer some of their rights to the government in order to better guarantee the steady and comfortable enjoyment of their lives, liberty, and property.

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

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.

The ideas of the Enlightenment are currently shown directly in our modern day society. The Enlightenment was a european movement in the late 17th century emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition. It allowed people more freedom and more opportunities. It affected today's way of living through politics because it questioned the idea of people of a community governing their community. Religion was also affected because it sought reasonable faith that many could follow and had reason. The Enlightenment did not only have an impact on politics and religion but also on economics because it denounced slavery and slave trade as well as lessened the government's control over the market. The Enlightenment has continued to be influential throughout modern times in many ways but is most present through politics, religion and economics.

Influential figures of the late 18th century such as John Locke and Thomas Paine cemented Enlightenment ideas that would ultimately shape the founding of the United States of America. The enlightenment ideas were crafted around motifs such as liberation, challenges to politics, social mobility, and oppression. John Locke and Thomas Paine expressed their concerns around those ideas towards how much power the government should have, as well as calling for a reorganization of a new republic. These concerns were considered revolutionary at the time and therefore began to influence the building blocks of America and it’s identity. The rise of Enlightenment ideas in the late 18th century paved the path for the founding of the United States by laying the foundation for liberated thinking, the concept of consent in government, and a national identity based on freedom for man.

The Enlightenment is said to have begun in the 1680’s, the same decade that the “Glorious Revolution” occurred, which crowned daughter of James II Mary and her husband Prince William of Orange Monarchs of England. This turning point in English history can be considered part of the Enlightenment due to the switch from an Absolute Monarchy to a Constitutional Monarchy and the passing of the English Bill of Rights in 1689 after William’s ascension to the throne.

“All men are naturally born in a state of perfect freedom, equal and independence to act how they want to. The state of nature has a law that governs it. This law of nature requires that no one should harm another in his natural rights life, liberty,and property.” John Locke said that all people are born with rights and that we should work together to keep our rights.

As a result of the scientific revolution, people continued to question the truths of the government, as natural law grew. Joan Fichte, a German philosopher, repels the types of rulers as they “have no rights at all over our freedom of thought, you princes; no jurisdiction over that which is true or false” (Doc 4). Before the Scientific Revolution, the people believed what the government had told them, without any question. The natural law is now granting these rights to the people which is slowly nullifying the government's control over the people. As a result of the people questioning government, the people made changes to their government leaders way of ruling. Rulers used to be omnipotent in their rule, but the natural law constricts the rulers. English philosopher, John Locke, provides his views on rulers. If the rulers work in an unjust manner than the people should use ¨forces . . . nothing but . . . unjust and unlawful force; whoever makes any opposition in any other case draws on himself a just condemnation both from God and man” (Doc 2). If a ruler is abusing his power, the people can stand up to him in a way that is not morally correct. Knowing that the people can oppose the government leaders, the leaders have to be more judicious in their decisions and consistently lead in a moral manner. Not only do the people have strong disapproval but God is

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

New ideas and liberties followed into the states including freedom religion where one could believe what one wanted to. John Locke came up with enlightenment ideas such as the “natural rights.” Natural rights are the life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness that each American has their own rights to. Thomas Jefferson added to the General assembly of Virginia in 1786, that every man should have the right to pursue any religious practice that one would please. This brought on the Bill of Rights in 1791.

Locke believed that all men are born with natural rights and they are the right to life, liberty, and property Locke said "Life refers to the fact that people want to live and will fight to survive. Liberty means that people want to be as free as possible. Property represents the fact that people want to own things that help them survive, such as land, food, and tools." Locke claims that these rights aren't given to people and that people are born with them.

John Locke was the man who began to express the idea of natural rights. The idea of natural rights is that all humans are born with three natural rights: life, liberty, and property. You are meant to respect these rights, which gives us limits as humans. For example, one can not just rob someone’s house without consequences. If someone does commit theft they are punished because they are

The Enlightenment era spanned the late 16th and 17th hundreds and it was a movement in which thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Thomas Pain, and Adam Smith sought to make advances in a similar manner to the occurrences in this period with scientific achievements/improvements. Two of the greatest effects of the Enlightenment era were the American and French Revolutions, which gained their foundation from the revolutionary ideas brought forward by the Enlightenment thinkers. The leaders of the American and French Revolutions were seeking to create new governments reflecting some of the values and ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers.