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Enlightenment American revolution
Enlightenment influence on the french revolution
Enlightenment ideas and the American and French revolutions
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From the late 17th Century to the 20th century, the West went through different scenarios of war, ideas and politics allowed the West to connect, dominate and retraction with Asia, Africa and the Americas. Through the use of instruments of national power (Diplomacy, Information, Military and Economics), the West impacted the rest of the world in many areas. Normally, diplomacy can also be seen as the political instrument that a country’s leadership uses to meet the country’s interests and objectives. To my mind, the most important instrument of national power is diplomacy as compared to economics, military and informational instruments because the vital political role in the interaction of the West with the rest of the world drastically changed the status quo of the entire globe. …show more content…
As a result, the detachment permitted citizens to be more involved in government affairs which was an impulse for people to work for the government by looking for economic and political empowerment. Additionally, philosophers such as Voltaire and Rousseau had big influence in political thinking that was used for posterior revolutions. The ideas of equality, liberty and rights started with the Enlightenment movement. The global influence of the Enlightenment values was a huge challenge to established monarchies because a non-seen participation of the people (popular sovereignty) concept emerged. One great example is the English Bill of Rights of 1689 which meant the limitation by law of the monarchy in England. It declared a protection of individual rights and liberties under English law (equality) and the rule of the monarchy only with the establishment of a
The enlightenment ideas affected politics for both the French and the American peoples through the form of government and individual rights. Thinkers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, believed in the individual right of man as a citizen of a sovereign nation. In 1789, Marquis de Lafayette used Rousseau and other free thinker’s ideas to draft his Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen to the National Constituent Assembly in France (http://www.pbs.org/marieantoinette/revolution/america_france.html). This established universal rights for individuals that always existed at all times. The document shows many similarities to American documents such as the declaration of Human Rights in the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights in the Constitution. For instance, they all show a relationship through the declaration of individual rights such as free speech and freedom of religion. However, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen focuses more on individualism while American documents focus more on a community “We the People” (http://www.pbs.org/marieantoin...
John Locke, and his book Two Treatises on Government, impacted the Enlightenment by spreading the ideals around the world, which influenced revolutions. Locke wrote that “the state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions” (Locke. sect 6). This ideal was the basis of the revolution sparked from Enlightenment ideals. Locke believed that man had a set of rights, which were given to a man when he is born. These rights cannot be taken away from a man based on social class, race, or anything else. When the revolutions started, the people believed that the king had been infringing on their natural rights. “All men may be restrained from invading others rights” (Locke. sect. 7) and this includes people of nobility as well as common people. Paine says in Common Sense that “the king is not to be trusted without being looked after, or in other words, that a thirst for absolute power is the natural disease of monarchy” (Paine. page 10). A big theme with Enlightenment wr...
There are many different ways in which the Enlightenment affected the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. One way was the by the idea of a Social Contract; an agreement by which human beings are said to have abandoned the "state of nature" in order to form the society in which they now live. HOBBES, LOCKE, and J.J. ROUSSEAU each developed differing versions of the social contract, but all agreed that certain freedoms had been surrendered for society's protection and that the government has definite responsibilities to its citizens. Locke believed that governments were formed to protect the natural rights of men, and that overthrowing a government that did not protect these rights was not only a right, but also an obligation. His thoughts influenced many revolutionary pamphlets and documents, including the Virginia Constitution of 1776, and the Declaration of Independence.
The United States of America has never been content with stagnation. The landmass of the Thirteen Colonies was enough to rival that of the Mother country from which they separated. The forefathers believed that it was the manifest destiny of this nation to eventually claim the expansion from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. By 1890, nearly a hundred years following the original claim of Manifest Destiny, the land that was once open, was now under American control. But no sooner was the Great American Frontier closed, than was the door to East Asian expansion opened with the great gold key of American diplomacy. In a world where imperialism was contagious, and cartographers had to work around the clock to keep up with an ever-changing geopolitical landscape, the United States seized the opportunity to establish herself as a significant world power. With great expansionist minds at her helm, such as Theodore Roosevelt and Howard Taft the United States began to grow beyond her border to claim stake in this wide-open world. This new expansionism of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century was a different institution than its early to mid nineteenth century counterpart. Still, the drive to exercise the sovereignty of the United State and to propel itself over the world’s stage was the same then as it was in the time of Thomas Jefferson. In order to understand this assertion, attention must be given to three levels of analysis. First, the similarities that exist between the drive and purpose of old and new expansion must be taken into account. Second, the differences in the global political scene must be considered. Finally, there exits differences in the means by which expansion occurred.
In the late eighteenth century the ideas of liberty and equalities were beginning to flourish throughout the world, especially in Europe and in America (p.691). Part of this was believed to be due to the Enlightenment, for it changed the ways people thought about life. People were seeking equality and individual freedoms. They wanted equality, but it was an uncertain thing for the liberals argued that all citizens should have identical rights and civil liberties, and nobility should not have special privileges (However they did not believe that women had these rights or that there should be economical equality). It was these thoughts about individual rights and equalities, which fueled the people to create a revolution in both America and Europe (More specifically France).
There is a lot of enlightenment idea like free speech, divide power and majority rules. The enlightenment idea 14that I am talking about contain all three of these. It is made by John Locke and is called as natural rights. I think most important idea that challenge the existing authority is the natural rights. The enlightenment idea of natural rights challenged the existing authority of the king because he think he is the only one that has rights and no one else has it.
Equality became the main focus of America during the revolution because America wanted it to be evident that they were the land of the free, land of the free meaning that there were right for everyone, however, "everyone" was limited to to free white males. Equality was brought to the front of the mental outlook of freedom because Americans were becoming increasingly aware that political stances and governmental workings could change to include the common people as a whole. This was accomplished by people of lesser political standing advanced their demands. The common people had their voice heard. Equality was also sparked by Thomas Jefferson's writing of The Declaration of Independence, specifically the line that states that "all men are created
Throughout history, revolutions have started because of new ideas that change thinking and disrupt what has come to be considered normal. During 1700s, the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions were no exception. The Enlightenment ideas that were spreading around this time lead people of these three nations to question their ruling elites, and to begin considering breaking free. Of these three, though, no one revolt can be seen as more radical when compared to the other two. Each was faced with the challenging task of successfully separating from the oppression that had been brought upon them by to powerful empires and monarchies who had lost sight of what the American, French, and Haitian people alike considered important, as well as being some of the first revolts to use radical Enlightenment ideas to justify each of their rebellions. They considered these rebellions their one shot at being able to break free.
Two hundred and twenty five years ago, a document was added to our constitution granting us five ideals. This document was called the Bill of Rights, which granted us the basic rights of opportunity, liberty, equality, democracy and rights. Since the Bill of Rights was added, not all of the ideals have been obeyed consistently. Liberty, rights, and democracy have been followed well throughout the years, but opportunity and equality have fluctuated. Although the constitution and bill of rights says every american should be granted with these ideals, some americans simply did not make that so.
In his 1959 study, The Tragedy of American Diplomacy, the well-known historian William Appleton Williams wrote, that in spite of its best intentions, American foreign policy was based on a one-dimensional American belief that Americans and the American government had all the answers to their problems. I strongly agree, for the most part, with that statement. The only aspect of American foreign policy that I disagreement is the firmness in which our government stands true to their decisions and re often inflexible enough to change them. The administrators in charge of our government dating back to the 19th century have always been too inflexible to tweak their application on foreign policy in the least bit. It has made way to a century of failure in foreign relations. America began building up its outdated navy ships in the early 1880's in preparation for what would be an American attempt at expansion. They wanted to become the premiere naval world power. They were already being acknowledged as whole of the great world strengths by other powerful countries. It didn't take long, by 1900; the U.S. began flexing its muscles. The Caribbean and Pacific Islands became a national interest. A classic example of which started the poor American foreign policy was in 1891 in Chile. Secretary of State James G. Blaine became involved in a border dispute between Mexico and Guatemala, tried settling a war between Peru, Bolivia and Chile. Chile held a riot against American troops. Blaine threatened Chile with war, and they were forced to apologize to America and pay an indemnity of $75,000. This established America as a world power, but also tarnished their role in foreign policy before it even got off the ground. Many more incidents like this occurred after the event with Chile, the biggest being the pursuit of the Panama Canal. America continued moving into to foreign land, and when problems arose, America began implementing an American model of government in these areas, believing that was the only way to solve the problems.
Having understood that the world has taken the form it has through the domination or imperialism of Western countries, it is said that they are the agents that have greatly influenced the world; their ideologies in addition to their political as well as economic influences have spread across the globe through time (Headrick, 1981).
Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between nations, or skill in handling affairs without arousing hostility (Merriam-Webster.) Diplomacy had effectively affected the rise of the modern state during 1648-1715. The first change that it brought was through the treaty of Westphalia, which allowed state to operate important transformations in their structure. Westphalia treaty had allowed “Signatories of treaties to be freed perpetually, to make alliances with strangers for their preservation or safety, and each of the contracting parties of this treaty shall be held to defend a...
There are many events in history that include the expression of equality and freedoms. There are works on equality and or freedoms that have overriding themes. Three of these freedom or equality works are Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions. Each of these works relate to either freedom or equality, but they have different priorities and goals. Many of the goals of each were either met or unmet. There are many theories and works created to make an attempt to depict an ideal society. Three of these works are Thomas More’s Utopia, Ursula Le Guin’s The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas, and Niccolo Machiavelli’s The Prince. There
In this paper, I will argue that the current system is hegemonial. My explanation to hegemony will then be centered on the sources of the United States as a hegemonial power. Furthermore, I will state the different primary implications associated with the rise of China and what the Roman Empire offers for understanding the United Sta...
Another important factor promoted globalization is called the ‘World Politics’. Foreign policymakers are facing a challenge of a fundamental change in nowadays ...