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Thomas Hobbes
Had the idea of "social contract", which was all men are created equal, this was used into The Decleration of Independence. -
John Locke
Had the idea of life, liberty, and property, which was implemented into The Declaration of Independence, but was changed into life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. -
Montesquieu
Had the idea of the "spirit of laws". Which was the 3 branches of gov't, that were equal and one wasn't more powerful than the other. This idea was put into the U.S. constitution. -
Voltaire
Came up with the ides of Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, and fair trial. These ideals are a huge part of the Bill of Rights. -
Rousseau
Believed in natural rights and that every man should be born free. This "social contract" idea is implemented in the Constitution. -
George Washington
Lead the Constitutional Army. Went on to become the first president of The United States. Helped create the precedents and foundations that would create America. -
John Adams
Adams was on the committee to draft the Declaration of Independence. He also negotiated the Treaty of Paris that officially ended the American Revolution. -
Thomas Jefferson
Was on the committee to draft the Declaration and was selected to write it. He also became the first vice president and then the third president. -
British grievances in the Colonies
The British taxed the colonies heavily and did not give them representation in the government. One of the taxes was the Tea Act, which taxed the colonies on their imported tea. This idea came from the Enlightenment idea of taxing for the public good. However, the British took it too far. -
Revolution!
The Revolutionary War was a rebellion by the 13 colonies and Great Britain because of the high taxes and no epresentation in the government. This dates back to the ideas of fair treatment and human rights from the enlightenment. -
The Decleration of Independence
This was when the 13 colonies declared to be independent from Britan and to be at war wih Britan. This connects to the Enlightenment because of the ideas like the, Life Liberty and The pusuit of Happiness. John Locke came up with the idea but it was originally called Life, Liberty, and Property. Thomas Jefferson changed the name. -
Articles of Confederation
A document signed by the 13 colonies that established the United States of America and served as the first constitution. Some problems that came with this was that the Congress had no power to tax, no executive branch, and no national court system. This is connected to the Enlightenment bacause some of the ideas back then tried to be implemented into the Articles like fair representation. -
Federalists and Anit-Federalists
A federalists was someone who believed and supported the constitution, and an anti-federalists was someone who didn't believe or support the constitution. Ths is connected to the Enlightenment becuase the philosophers created ideas that were implemented into a lot of political things like the constitution and the articles, they philosophers had people that believed and supported thier ideas and some that did not just like the federalists and anti-federalists. -
North West Ordinance
The North West Ordinance provided a method for creating new states in the North West territory. The enlightenment ideas of acceptance and adding more groups of diverse people to the country were taken into consideration when creating this law. -
Constitution
The Constitution was a document compiled of the laws and rights of all citizens in the United States. Many of the ideas from the Enlightenment such as letting the people choose their leaders, checks and balances, and direct democracy were used in the constitution along with other implements. -
Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights are the first 10 Ammendments to the Constitution. Some of the enlightenment ideas used in these are basic human rights, fair trial, and Freedom of Speech along with many other ideas.
