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The enlightenment thinkers helped influence the American revolution through their ideas about equal rights and giving the people the right to vote, resulting in the creation of a better government for the people of the United States; similar to how the enlightenment ideas helped influence the French Revolution -
. . .but if he does not do that the people can revolt. -
“The king did not hold absolute power, as Hobbes had said, but acted only to enforce and protect the natural rights of the people. If a sovereign violated these rights, the social contract was broken, and the people had the right to revolt and establish a new government” (Constitutional Rights Foundation). Thomas Hobbs said that there was a social contract between the government and the people. . .
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“First, Locke argued that natural rights such as life, liberty, and property existed in the state of nature and could never be taken away or even voluntarily given up by individuals. These rights were “inalienable” (impossible to surrender). (Constitutional Rights Foundation). John Locke said that there are three natural rights, life, liberty, and property. The king/government could not take these rights away from the people. -
“Montesquieu concluded that the best form of government was one in which the legislative, executive and judicial powers were separate and kept each other in check to prevent any branch from becoming too powerful.”(Constitutional Rights Foundation) -
. . for them. -
“Rousseau argued that the general will of the people could not be decided by elected representatives. He believed in a direct democracy in which everyone voted to express the general will and to make the laws of the land.” (Constitutional Rights Foundation). Jean-Jacques Rousseau basically said that the government could not decide what laws are good for the people. Because of this the solution is to have a government were all the people would vote so they could have the laws the best..
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“Britain passes the Stamp Act, imposing a tax on legal documents, newspapers, even playing cards. This is the first direct tax on the American colonists and is hotly resisted. A successful American campaign to have the act repealed will give Americans confidence that they can avoid future taxes as well.”(Timeline). The British taxed only the American paper products. The Americans then resisted the campaign and were successful in doing so. The enlightenment idea is connected to the. . -
. . .idea of Rousseau. His idea was that everyone should vote. The Americans could not vote in parliament.
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The British tried to tax the Americans with imported goods from Great Britain.
The Americans did not like this, so they began boycotting. This event relates to Thomas Hobbs’s idea that the government should protect the rights of the people and if they did not the people had the right to revolt. -
“British troops land in Boston to enforce the Townshend duties (taxes on paint, paper, tea, etc., passed in June 1767) and clamp down on local radicals. The troops' presence doesn't sit well with locals and leads to street fights. One clash between soldiers and a mob in March 1770 will leave five dead. Radicals will call it the Boston Massacre, while the British will call it the incident on King Street.” (Timeline) -
The British put their troops on the colonies streets to help enforce taxes. The Americans did not like the presence of the troops because the troops were there to enforce something they were very heavily against. This event relates to Thomas Hobbs’s idea that the government should protect the rights of the people and if they did not the people had the right to revolt.
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“The British eventually withdrew their forces from Boston and repealed much of the onerous Townshend legislation. But they left in place the tax on tea, and in 1773 enacted a new law, the Tea Act, to prop up the financially struggling British East India Company.” (Timeline)
“That didn’t sit well with Americans. “They didn’t want the British telling them that they had to buy their tea, but it wasn’t just about that,” Randall explains. . . -
“The Americans wanted to be able to trade with any country they wanted.” (Timeline)
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The British were getting tired of being harassed by the Americans. Because of this, they decided to boycott and dump all the tea into the ocean. This event relates to the idea of John Locke that the government could not take away the three natural rights. The British tried to tax the tea, so they boycotted.
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“Parliament again tried to assert its authority by passing legislation to tax goods that the Americans imported from Great Britain.” (Timeline)
“Americans struck back by organizing a boycott of the British goods that were subject to taxation, and began harassing the British customs commissioners.” (Timeline) -