Enlightenment and the Declaration of Independence The two most single events that change the course of mankind within the accounts of the colonies was the Age of Enlightenment and the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. The propinquity of these two components constituted one of the greatest, most single important literary articles in the history of this country. This historical parchment conceived from the great minds that arose from the ashes of puritan ignorance; initiate a course of events that forever changed the colonies and was instrumental in the shaping of the United States of America. The Age of Enlightenment was an intellectual, scientific, and spiritual, awakening; a time of reasoning that pulled the minds of the From this new movement of thought came two of many men with the most influential thoughts of all time. Thomas Jefferson and John Locke restructure civil and political society, according to their principles, they became visionaries of a new government established on the prominence of human nature and an enlightened society. (cite 1) Locke and Jefferson wrote documents proclaiming Freedom for all. Locke stated man should have a natural right to life, liberty, and property, and Jefferson stated, mankind had inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of However, Jefferson penned more elegant delivery of intent. The literary essence is parallel to the message in this extraordinary document. Sectioned into three major parts, the reason of notification or introduction, the reason to disengage connections or the indictment of charges, and their demands and what they were prepared to demonstrate, to ensure that their demands were consummated. Yet another example of the influence of enlightenment thinking. This historic legal parchment was significant to the modeling of the political thought and the course of history. Transforming thirteen states into the most powerful nation, the United States. The signers placed their signatures not just to a paper, but to a consciousness of belief. This was evident in the first paragraph when Jefferson wrote, it was necessary to dissolve the governmental ties and become separate and equal in which the laws of nature and God intended.
The Enlightenment was a great upheaval in the culture of the colonies- an intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries which emphasized logic and reason over tradition. Enlightenment thinkers believed that men and women could move civilization to ever greater heights through the power of their own reason. The Enlightenment encouraged men and women to look to themselves, instead of God, for guidance as to how to live their lives and shape society. It also evoked a new appreciation and
The Enlightenment had the most immediate impact on the founding fathers who were framers of the United States Constitution. Europeans often called the Enlightenment century as the Age of Reason. The Enlightenment is a period of uproar in America’s thirteen colonies in the early eighteenth century. It provoked a cry for a new government with a Constitution to assure liberty. It influenced the founding fathers because we needed structure such as human rights, civil rights and separation of church and state. The Enlightenment thinker’s affected the new nation. During this period, the Enlightenment began the revolution of change in thinking.
Jefferson’s language in the Declaration of Independence shows clear influence from Locke and his theory of Life, Liberty, and Property. Locke’s idea of government is one that sets out to protect these rights and once a government becomes more destructive than useful it is the right of the people to dissolve the government and start over from scratch. It can be seen that Jefferson’s view of government, through his criticisms toward the British Parliament, are in direct alignment with Locke’s.
John Locke is known as the “Father of Classical Liberalism” and is said to be one of the most influential philosophers. Locke believed that all humans are born with natural rights and had the right to protect their “Life, liberty, health and possessions”. Locke also believed that we have the right to overthrow our government if we didn’t like it or got tired of it and he wanted a limited
Locke talked about how people have the right to overthrow and unjust government and Jefferson also had this concept in the writing of the Declaration. The Declaration was created to explain why the colonies wanted independence from the British. The similarity between both the arguments is that Jefferson wanted to separate from a government that treated the people poorly “to dissolve the political bands” (Constitution) and Locke had the same idea that people need to get rid of the corrupt government. In the second part of the Declaration, Locke’s influence can be further seen when Jefferson states that “all men are created equal.” There is also another similarity between both the documents as Jefferson explains in the Declaration that all men have the rights to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Locke also emphasized this point except Locke believed that all men have the rights to life, liberty and property. Locke wrote earlier that revolutions are rare because most times the people do not feel that the government is abusing the power too much. However, in this case Jefferson explained that the rule of the British had a “history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States” (Constitution). In Locke’s writing he also explained that tyrants only care about their own needs and do not provide for the society. Therefore, Jefferson and the Americans had the right to overthrow the government because the government did not provide for the governed. Jefferson wrote a list of charges against the British rule to influence Americans into revolting. One of charges that Jefferson makes is that the King “has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good” (Constitution). This is important because Locke stated in his article explained
American history has been influenced by a diversity of people, as well as thoughts. Yet, documents related to the independence of the country might be considered the most significant ones. The Declaration of Independence written by Thomas Jefferson, as well as Common Sense was written by Thomas Paine, both documents appealing for the same cause, but in different manners. In the same order will be mentioned the Second Treatise of Government Excerpt, by John Locke. Locke 's philosophy is based on the natural rights of individuals, and how these rights should be inquired. He says, that individuals have the right to choose who makes their laws and who governs them. Locke 's document makes specific emphasis on the way how power should be administered, "a man comes by a power over other; yet not absolute or arbitrary power". This quote, in addition to his declarations of people needing to come together in order to protect their properties, are some of the influences which could be identified by Jefferson and Paine 's work. However, the one considered
Two enlightenment-inspired documents of the 1750-1900 periods were the Declaration of Independence or the United States and the Declaration of Rights of Man. The Declaration of Independence was profoundly influenced by the works of John Locke and Adam Smith, it praised limited government and Free Market Capitalism, it denounced the King of England, it advocated secularism and the three rights of men: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The Declaration of the Rights of Man was another document, inspired by the enlightenment theories of secularism, free thought and limited government, it was also influenced by the American Declaration of Independence. Both documents were fuel for the Age of Revolution.
John Locke is best seen as the “Father of Classical Liberalism” making him one of the most influential Enlightenment thinkers during the 17th-century, considered as the era of modern philosophy. Locke puts his trust in human reasoning because he believes that all humans are born equal, stating that no one has power above another person and that they have the right to commit the actions that each one pleases to do so. In the Second Treatise of Government Locke 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, within the bounds of the law of nature, without asking leave, or depending upon the will of any other man” (Locke 8). Locke explains how men are reasonable when they make decisions, leaving it entirely up to the person to do as ...
...d (Locke, 4). By exploring these two ideas of the social contract between a government and its people, as well as the natural rights of man, Locke created many waves in England, as well as impacted several important intellectuals who would later be responsible for the American and French Revolutions.
The final step in the preparation for a new government was separation from the old government. This was declared twice in the Declaration of Independence. In the beginning, “That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, driving their just powers from the consent of the governed,” and in the end, “that these united colonies are, and ought to be, free and independent states; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. In conclusion, the Declaration of Independence was able to motivate people, give them ambition, and make it simple for Americans to take action.
The Declaration of the Independence was a formal document which declared the America’s independence from Britain from July 4, 1776 until today (“Declaration of Independence”). The Enlightenment was a period in time, in the eighteenth century, when many Enlightenment thinkers created new ways of understanding which later influenced the American and French Revolution (“Enlightenment”). Celebration of the Declaration of Independence occurs every year on July 4, when Americans come together to honor our independent nation, usually with fireworks, hot dogs and apple pies. The Declaration of Independence was inspired by and inspired the Enlightenment because Thomas Jefferson took ideas from the Enlightenment, especially from John Locke who believed
The enlightenment was crucial in determining many aspects of Colonial America, especially in terms of politics, government, personal beliefs, and religion. Without the core ideas of the enlightenment thinkers, which include America’s founding fathers, America would lack the basis for creating stepping stones for a strong, United Nation such as the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. Without the central ideas and figures of the enlightenment, the United States would be drastically different since these concepts shaped the country.
When John Locke published The Second Treatises of Government in 1690, he was one of the first people to discuss liberalism as a whole. One of the main beliefs of a classical liberal is that the primary emphasis should be placed on securing the freedom of the individual by limiting the power of the government. Not only did Locke believe that, but he also was the first to introduce the concept of having liberty from birth and equality for all. Because of this Locke is the true “father of classical liberalism”
The Enlightenment period, also known as The Age of Reason, was a period of social, religious, and political revolution throughout the 18th century which changed the thoughts of man during this “awakening” time. It was a liberation of ignorant thoughts, ideas, and actions that had broken away from the ignorant perception of how society was to be kept and obeyed thus giving little room for new ideas about the world. Puritan society found these new ideas of thought to be extremely radical in comparison to what they believed which was a belief of strong rational religion and morality. Enlightened society believed that the use of reason would be a catalyst of social change and had a demand of political representation thus resulting in a time in history where individualism was widely accepted amongst the new world. Puritan society believed strongly in myth, magic, and religious superstitions that was immensely used by the Puritans before democracy, capitalism, and the scientific revolution gave rise from the Enlightenment period.
The Enlightenment was a period in European culture and thought characterized as the “Age of Reason” and marked by very significant revolutions in the fields of philosophy, science, politics, and society (Bristow; The Age of Enlightenment). Roughly covering the mid 17th century throughout the 18th century, the period was actually fueled by an intellectual movement of the same name to which many thinkers subscribed to during the 1700s and 1800s. The Enlightenment's influences on Western society, as reflected in the arts, were in accordance with its major themes of rationalism, empiricism, natural rights and natural law or their implications of freedom and social justice.