AP Government Summer Assignment The Enlightenment was a European intellectual movement that encouraged individualism and reason instead of tradition. Thinkers such as John Locke, Jean Jacques Rousseau and Montesquieu wrote powerful works revealing these Enlightenment ideas. These works heavily influence the formations of governments. Ideas from these writers and their works are particularly evident in the Virginia Declaration of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. The Virginia Declaration of Rights is a document that was written in 1776 to protect the rights of men before the development of the United States.
On the other hand, the nobility had many rights. Today it’s greatly known that the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were well influenced from the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment thinkers argued against these traditions, and called for individual freedoms, governments of the people, and religious freedom. They were "enlightened" because they believed that humans could answer questions for them, and sought ways to put this philosophy into practice. John Locke, an Enlightenment thinker, highly influenced the Declaration of Independence.
The Enlightenment ideas of equality for men, human rights and dignity are said to have inspired the Haitian revolutionaries. One slave in particular, Toussaint L’Ouverture a freed slave and slave owner is said to have been strongly influenced by Enlightenment ideas and modeled his new nation on French ideals of freedom and citizenship. Speaking of French ideals, before the revolution, France was ruled by an absolute monarchy, but the new ideas originating from the Enlightenment era included ideas about freedom, the common people’s right to govern, equality, and other democratic ideals such as religious tolerance and freedom of speech. The unrest among the classes was caused by these new ideas of government and their potential to improve society and the everyday lives of the people by eradicating poverty, unemployment, and hunger that was present in France before the Revolution. In 1789, the French people took matters into their own hands, ultimately ousting the king and launching a republic three years later.
Enlightenment can be defined as “a philosophical movement in 18th century that fostered the belief that one could reform society by discovering rational laws that govern social behavior and were just as scientific as the laws of physics.” A British man by the name of John Locke in 1690 argued that governments were created to protect life, liberty, and property and that people had a right to rebel when a monarch violated those natural rights. This did not correspond with the traditional absolute monarch named by divine authority. In 1762 another writer named Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote that legitimate monarchs depended on the consent of the people and that had to be respected. More of these enlightenment ideas spread through pamphlets, newspapers, books, and many public venues. The colonists living in the 13 colonies had to deal with British Parliament controlling their settlement without representation and many acts were passed along with the Writs of Assistance.
He composed his pamphlet utilizing vernacular and simple ideas, targeting the common man. This was an unusual, yet appropriate, technique for the Enlightenment era. His pamphlet outlined the flaws and disadvantages of a monarchial government such as the government imposed on America by England. He also portrayed the advantages of severing all governmental ties with England. Paine discusses generic topics of an ideal and properly functioning government.
These laws include man’s right to freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. John Locke was an English philosopher who became one of the most influential thinkers during the Enlightenment. One of Locke’s beliefs was the equality of all men and the elimination of social hierarchy. In his book The Second Treatise on Civil Government Locke states, “There is nothing more evident, than that creatures of the same species and rank … should also be equal one amongst another without subordination or subjection” (Doc A). Locke argues that all men are of the same species making them all equal and placed on the same rank.
Our founding fathers were inspired by influential people to write the great documents for America. For instance, Thomas Jefferson, the primary author of the Declaration of Independence, was inspired by ideas of philosophers in the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment ideas from political philosophers were used by other founding fathers as a means to motivate others for the Revolution. After the Revolution, James Madison also used ideas of Enlightenment philosophers to construct the United States Constitution. Philosophers, like Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Rousseau, all had a great influence in the making of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Declaration of the Rights of Women reflected many ideas of the Enlightenment, some of the key principles were liberty and equality. The Enlightenment took scientific reasoning and applied it to human nature, society and religion. The influence of the philosophers is obvious, with Voltaire's support of religious freedom being expressed in the Declaration by saying that "no man may be accused, because of his opinions, even religious..." and Rousseau's belief about personal liberty expressed in "The Social Contract" is reflected through the statement that "All men are born free and equal in rights." During the Enlightenment, women began to demanding that the new reformist rhetoric about liberty, equality, and natural rights be applied to both sexes. But Initially, Enlightenment philosophers focused on the inequities of social class and caste to the exclusion of gender.
Firstly, The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen(26/8/1789) ensured men were afforded ‘liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression,’ ensuring the basic human rights of all. Secondly, France’s chaotic jumble of administration was rationalised and decentralised into a equal system(26/2/1790), evoking almost universal acceptance, with support for a fairer system. These, added to judicial reform, where all men were equal under a fairer legal system, helped usher in a new era of support in France. However, the moderate stage of the new society was threatened by emerging turning points. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy(12/7/1791) created a crisis of conscience for religious Frenchmen, becoming the ‘first sign of popular resistance’(Rees) This, and and the attempted Flight to Varennes of Louis and his family(21/6/1791), catalysed the Champ De Mars massacre(17/7/1791), foreshadowing a new radical era, where growing resistance was met with radical responses.
When they won the French and Indian War, England had to make a few reforms. King George III declared the Proclamation of 1763, which forbid American colonists from settling west of the Appalachian Mountains in an effort the stabilize relations with the Native Americans. However this angered many colonists who had land grants there and in turn, the Proclamation Line was ignored. This was the start of a series of disagreements between the two lands, as the American citizens began to gain a stronger taste for independence. Enlightenment writers such as John Locke, who patented the idea that it