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 Era: All over the Map With the great leaps that were made in the areas of math and science during the 1600’s by such great names as Isaac Newton, a new era was ushered in called the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment predominated during the 18th century in England and France, although its ideals also held power in the rest of Europe and into America. Enlightenment thinkers borrowed their ideas of evidence-based rationality from Newton, who conducted his scientific experiments with a focus on evidence and concrete data. His focus was on the tangible natural world with an avoidance of the supernatural and unproven. (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.
As a result, Jefferson, Montesquieu, Locke, and other members of the founding generation were deeply influenced by this 18th-century European intellectual movement. These philosophers were exposed to some of the leading thinkers of the Enlightenment who believed rational thought and useful knowledge guaranteed an optimistic outlook of hope and promise of a better future. Not only that, but the many culminating revolutions that revolved - the Scientific Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, etc. - as well as a great environmental awareness were many factors as a result of the Enlightenment. Jefferson drew upon his education in law and Enlightenment philosophy in order to compose the Declaration of Independence, a treatise that focused on liberty and slavery.
Thus separation of church and state came into play, with hopes of keeping public morality and avoiding corrupting embrace from the government. Throughout the new nation people had started disestablishing their churches that had deprived peoples from public funding and special legal privileges. The revolution enhanced the different types of American Christianity and widely expanded the idea of religious liberty. This gave people of different beliefs a safe and nonjudgmental environment to express their religion but also threatened the rights of those who undermined church
The main motivation for the reformation in England was Henry V111 religious convictions how far do you agree with this statement? The reformation in England was the change from Catholicism to Protestantism. Henry V111 played a huge role in the reformation for example he stopped the amount of taxes that were being payed to Rome and he later ordered the dissolution of the monasteries however there are many other reasons to why the reformation in England took place for example for many years Protestants had argued over the beliefs and laws of the catholic religion as they believed some of their beliefs were corrupt. For example the Catholics had a strong belief in purgatory this is a seen as being like a waiting room were your soul is weighed on all of the sins you have committed compared to all of the positives that you have done throughout your life. The church said that the only way you could get time out of purgatory or save a family member from purgatory was to buy indulgences this means that the monks will pray for you and your family.
They were part of the Age of Enlightenment that began in Europe and later came to the American colonies. Its purpose was to reform society using reason and advance knowledge through scientific method. The Founding Fathers were products of this enlightened age and were greatly influenced by the school of religious thought called Deism, “one who denies the God of Israel, and believes in the God of nature” (Holmes 2006: 40). And they were influenced by the
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.
John Locke was a great philosopher and the father of Classical Liberalism. In his work “Second Treatise of Civil Government” many of his values. His ideas had the intention of making all men free and equal, the foundation of the law in Virginia Declaration of Rights, Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The Constitution of the United States was directly influenced by Locke’s work in that he believed that when people give up complete freedom and some rights to form a government and elect people in authority to act in this government. Whoever refuses to follow these laws will be punished accordingly.
Mann wanted the common schools to be available to everyone. He wanted it to be available to people that were rich, poor, and of different backgrounds. Public schools try to be this today; they are free to everyone and nondiscriminatory. Mann believed in public support and control of schools. Mann thought that education was a right that was passed on from generation to generation.
Some would argue that religion is a force for social change. This statement appears to be true because of things such as the civil rights movement in America, and the fact that without religion the changes that occurred during the civil rights movement would have never happened. This is because during the civil rights movement religion helped to mobilise public opinion by the use of preaching. Too get the people motivated for social change preaching would help pass messages across through a religious service and thus motivate people to change laws. A famous example of this was Martin Luther Kings ‘I have a dream’ speech, his use of religion in his passionate speech for equality helped to motivate people in society to push for social change, and ultimately changed America’s legislation and outlook on integration and equality between the black and white community in America.