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. The Declaration of Independence is a document that declared the United States’ separation with England. The Constitution is the supreme law of America. Without the enlightenment works of Locke, Rousseau and Montesquieu fundamental ideas would not be present in today’s United States government. John Locke was a great philosopher and the father of Classical Liberalism.
John Locke, an Enlightenment thinker, highly influenced the Declaration of Independence. He mentioned that he believed there were natural rights that all people had life, liberty and property. The Founding Fathers added that in the Declaration of Independence (Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness). Another idea Locke had was that if a ruler was oppressing his people, the people had the right to rebel. For Jefferson to write the Declaration it was considered treason, but he wrote in the
He opened their eyes to the ideals of democracy and the free world. He exhibited unbridled power and found that he too, like many before him, wanted to rule the world. B. Summary of Evidence • He was responsible for the spreading of the liberalizing ideas of the French Revolution throughout Europe, which help to bring an end to the remnants of feudal systems still existing in parts of Central and Eastern Europe. • Even though he was an Emperor, he actually started the demise of kingdoms and royalty.
France needed a leader who not only shared democratic ideals of the revolution, but had the sheer genius and iron hand to see them into reality. France needed a child of equality and sovereignty to sew its tattered flag, and Napoleon Bonaparte was exactly that child. His love for equality and sovereignty was displayed in both his attitudes and policies as a result of religious ideas, national equality, and social reforms. Napoleon maintained democratic ideals of the revolution in every sense of the word. Even if his actions seemed to undo the gains of the revolution, the purpose held and the results achieved say otherwise.
The Social Contract, a philosophical masterpiece written by the famous French writers Jean Jacques Rousseau, greatly influenced the course of the French Revolution. Rousseau’s pioneering conception of General Will enlightened the mainstream thinkers as well as the ordinary french people in the late 18th Century France. One of those political activist and writer, Emmanueal Joseph Sieyès( 1748-1836) justified the political legitimacy of the Third Estate. He argues that the aristocracy is acting against the General Will whereas the Third Estates represents the General Will of the French people and are thus the legitimate representative of the nation. Sieyes’s admitted the fact that Third Estate represents the General Will.
Chris Hooker World History Enlightenment Period in Europe The age of Enlightenment took place between the time when Louis XIV died (1715), and the coup d'etat (1799, when Napoleon came into power. It is during this time period that the French Revolution occurred, as well as several other stages of reform. Strongly influenced by the pertinent reformations, the people began to exit the times of darkness, and entered a time of growth. The ideas of growth, reason, and natural law built a strong foundation for the enlightenment. (Outram, 16-80) Incredible faith in human reason as well as the advancement of secularism was an important goal of European countries during this time period.
What was revolutionary about the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen? The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of Citizen by the French National Assembly on August 26, 1789, is one of the most significant events of the French Revolution. Together with the United States Declaration of Independence, it is also known as one of the founding documents in the human rights tradition. Although some political scientists and historians have come to a conclusion that the pathos and abstract phrases of Declaration subordinated the anarchy with which France experienced soon after the storming of the Bastille, no one tries to deny its political, historical as well as legal significance. So what was so revolutionary about it?
The third estate now held the majority in France under the new constitution. The revolutionary boldness of the third estate therefore was a contributing factor to the French revolution and without the Enlight¬enment; the third estate might not have had as much courage and boldness. The “Declarations of the rights of man and the citizen” was issued in the 26th of August 1789, which was not long after the Tennis Court Oath. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen was set of individual rights and col-lective rights, of all of the estates as one. It was influenced by the doctrine of natural rights, these rights were universal; they were supposed to be valid in all times and places, pertaining to human
(Kleiner 589) John Locke was also an important influence on Enlightenment thought as he focused on the goodness of the individual and his natural rights. (589) Thus the Enlightenment was characterized by the ideas of rationality and reason applied to all facets of life. Man was free from the restrictions of the church and despotic governments. The major revolutions that occurred in America and France at this time were all spurred on by Enlightenment principles. Some of the key players in the Enlightenment were Diderot, Voltaire, Rousseau, David, and Jefferson.
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.