How Did The Enlightenment Change America

America’s evolution into a modern republic would not have occurred if it were not for thoughts and ideas brought forth by the American Enlightenment. The thirteen colonies were ultimately transformed by the various philosophies of the power of human reason and scientific inquiry that were formed during the enlightenment. Enlightenment ideals took root and impacted many areas of colonial life; those most prominent being education, the sciences, and both legal and political systems. Enlightenment philosophy was able to transform the colonies from a religious society that believed in the leadership of the British Empire, to an educational and scientific society that embraced the concept of a democratic government.

The transformation of higher

Most colleges introduced some of the advanced scientific theories of Europe like Copernican astronomy and Newtonian physics to their students, but the most vigorous promotion of science occurred outside college through private efforts of amateurs and the activities of scientific societies. The effect of the spread of science in America was most seen in nature sciences and medical advances. The greatest advancement in science at this time was the inoculation against smallpox first performed by Cotton Mather in Boston. He spread his techniques to other doctors and by the mid 18th century inoculation had become a common medical procedure that saved thousands of lives. Disease was now preventable and the thought that it was bestowed on people by god was eroding away. Benjamin Franklin invented the lightening rod and electricity by doing experiments on his own. Without the emphasis on scientific knowledge he may have not been pushed in that direction in the first place. This change in society created influenced the scientific world and set America on a path to become one of the leading countries in

Colonists saw laws as divine will or a result if the natural order, whereas in British it was seen as an expression of power of an earthly sovereign. This difference influenced the legal system in America and made it so it was different from Britain’s. The American legal system adopted essential elements of the English legal system such as trial by jury, but significant differences had been established as well. The American pleading and court procedures were simpler and the punishments were different. Crimes were redefined as some of the civil liberties America would be founded on came into question. In England a printed attack on a public official whether true or not was a crime. This law was challenged in the 1734-1735 trial of John Peter Zenger and the courts ruled that is was not a crime if the allegations were true. America was slowly changing from its original British ways. The political system created in America was based off enlightenment ideas of democracy and self-governing. The colonies created local governments that ran the affairs in their community with little interest from higher authority. As well as these small governments each community sent delegates to colonial assemblies that exercised many of the powers that parliament did in England. The focus of politics was local because the royal governors usually knew little about the