The enlightenment principles guided the American revolution by creating a balanced economy, arguing how inhuman slavery is, giving all people their three birth rights and coming up with the efficiency of reason;
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; this results in a much more equal and less domestic society for those ruling and those living under the rules, which made it possible for the revolution to occur; similar to how the French Revolution was a complex conflict with numerous triggers that lead to the comfort of equality and reason for what France would later become. -
Or the things that you are given in this world that should never be taken away, these three human rights included life, liberty and property. John Locke even made it so that if someone of authority failed to give you these rights they would no longer be an authority, and would be removed by people with force if necessary. This ensured everyone’s basic safety and the rights they were born with. -
"In political theory, or political philosophy, John Locke refuted the theory of the divine right of kings and argued that all persons are endowed with natural rights to life, liberty, and property and that rulers who fail to protect those rights may be removed by the people, by force if necessary"(google). John Locke was the philosopher who gave people their three basic human rights. -
Due to the monarch's perspective, where “The divine right of kings,” could take that away whenever and however they would like. John Locke was the person who made it possible for people today to live freely and not have their lives threatened because someone had a bad day. Instead of enforcing these on the people this philosophy was mainly for the kings. All of the king's authority was threatened if he went against these three basic rights. Thanks to John Locke. -
"The idea is that the king is given his authority directly by God. Because of this, he had the 'right' to rule completely and totally, with no need for approval from the people or any representative body such as a parliament"(GoogleDefinition). “The Divine right of kings,” gave kings the authority to do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted. John Locke came up with the theory that everyone should have their 3 basic birth rights. -
"In the treatise, Voltaire argues in favour of toleration of religious belief, while reserving the right to argue strenuously against it, and denouncing religious fanaticism of all stripes. “Tolerance has never provoked a civil war; intolerance has covered the Earth in carnage"(support). Voltaire was a philosopher who saw the disagreements and descrimination between different religions and separated all religious and political beliefs.
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Voltaire simply believed in the efficiency of reason, and due to this many people who did not see eye to eye with other religions could not argue that when it came to the rules of the whole. Or rather people would not be left vulnerable if they believed in something else, they were capable of living and staying near people of different beliefs without the fear of being hurt physically or mentally.
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Enlightenment thinker Voltaire came up with the idea to separate religious beliefs and anything government or political. So due to Voltaire, there will never again be tension between said protestants and catholics and nobody will ever be able to discriminate against one for their beliefs. This was extremely important to happen due to what Voltaire said. -
“Intolerance has left this world in carnage.” Now people would have to accept others for their belief system and no one could argue about it. Religion was now a freedom and those who did not agree were not in charge. After Voltaire people simply had no other choice than to ignore someone else’s beliefs if there was a problem and this allowed for so much more peace, and mixture of cultures. -
"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"(google). -
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was the philosopher who created the social contract, and the social contract was simply the idea that. The people would be allowed to create their rules as long as the majority was content, and if one of the people were to go domestic or not follow one of these rules it would then become a problem. This helped establish a well run society. -
"Tensions were not just between Protestants and Catholics. Discrimination occurred throughout the colonies. The Quakers were expelled from Massachusetts.7 Presbyterians and Baptists were banished from New England.8 In Virginia, Puritans and Quakers were barred"(Mountvernan). The philosopher Voltaire created the idea of the tolerance act. He once said how toleration has never provoked a war, however intolerance has covered the world in carnage. -
"The Boston Massacre was a deadly riot that occurred on March 5, 1770, on King Street in Boston. It began as a street brawl between American colonists and a lone British soldier, but quickly escalated to a chaotic, bloody slaughter. The conflict energized anti-British sentiment and paved the way for the American Revolution"(History). -
Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s social contract, if established sooner, could've completely prevented the Boston Massacre. If the people were capable of voting on the rules that they would have to follow. The majority would’ve been content and people wouldn’t have started a massive street brawl. Not only would the people be in fear of getting in trouble, but they would not want to rebel against anything either. -
An early enlightenment thinker, Oaludah Equiano was one of the earliest slavery activists. He was a well respected black man who sought out how truly inhuman slavery is, and due to his early on thinking slaver has become completely abolished. Though this didn’t happen until later on. -
"In November of 1775 the royal governor of Virginia, the Earl of Dunmore, issued a proclamation in which he offered freedom to enslaved people who would support and fight for the British"(remembrance). John Murray sought out that slaves would only be given their freedom once they’ve threatened their life. Slavery is often not thought about when thinking about the American Revolution however slavery played a big role in winning the revolutionary war. -
Oaludah Equiano’s early thoughts were for sure looked at and utilized when abolishing slavery because he made extremely strong and evident statements about why slavery was wrong, and he did a great job in doing so because there is no way to argue with him that he is wrong. -
When king George was creating the intolerable acts, he passed the legislation that basically made it so that goods that had to be imported were taxed. Adam Smith’s philosophy for free trade made it so that people could import from wherever and no one had to pay more. This allowed for the migration of cultures and a much more stable economy throughout the whole world. Not even between Britain and America, but everywhere. -
“In another effort to raise money and exert its authority over the colonies, Britain established the Townshend Acts in 1767. This series of acts placed taxes on tea, lead, paint, paper, and glass imported to the colonies. The acts were resisted through violence, deliberate refusal to pay, and hostility toward British agents”(Brittanica1). -
“Smith argued that by giving everyone freedom to produce and exchange goods as they pleased (free trade) and opening the markets up to domestic and foreign competition, people's natural self-interest would promote greater prosperity than with stringent government regulations"(investopedia). -
Adam Smith’s philosophy is for the right for free trade. He believed that if people were able to trade freely with whomever that culture and traditions would be mixed. He clearly recognized that by trading and sharing some of the customs with civilizations, that maybe aren’t as civil as his home, that the economy would flourish. -
"In so doing, Equiano hints that Africans may be the indirect relatives of Christian Europeans through their Jewish ancestry and argues against slavery as an affront to all humans 'Let the polished and haughty European recollect that his ancestors were once, like the Africans, uncivilized, and even barbarous ' "(jstor). -
Oaludah Equiano was one of the earliest slavery advicits. He argues how slavery is just wrong. Slavery is not a simple thing what so ever and he recognized how it was morally wrong. He makes strong and evident arguments that make his point very transparent and compelling. He even uses real life experiences in order to convey how inhuman, the trading of African humans really is.
