How Enlightenment Shaped the Birth of the American Republic Between 1775 and 1787
Name: Blaire Santos
Teacher: Ms. Amauri Amoa
Grade: 90/100
Associates Degree Level
Revolution in the Atlantic World
2nd November, 2011
Discuss the ways in which the ideas of the Enlightenment shaped the birth of the American Republic between 1775 and 1787.
The Enlightenment was an epoch of important philosophical, social and rational reformation which birthed itself out of Europe. Famous Philosophers such as John Locke, Jeremy Bentham, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Voltaire questioned social structure as they assessed the authoritarian states of the day through critical writings. These critical writings encapsulated ideals, such as individualism, freedom, equality, popular sovereignty and the belief of inherent or inalienable human rights, which inspired revolution in America halfway across the world. But it is not as if these ideals actively did anything themselves, since (obviously) they are inanimate. Instead, it is the people who prioritised these principles that really brought about change. For the purposes of this essay, only the three figures of Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson, will be discussed in this effort to show how the ideas of the Enlightenment (which will be underlined for the convenience of the reader) that they used fashioned the dawn of the America we know today. The enlightenment ideas gave these political figures the means to gain the support of the people and paved the path for the spirit and success of the revolution and the new American Republic.
Thomas Paine was a political writer who wrote a best-selling pamphlet in 1776 called “Common Sense”. It “brought Enlightenment ideas to bear on the American Revolution” . The pamphlet emphasised the importance of freedom for humanity, basic human rights, the sovereignty of the people, and the social contract. Paine and “Common Sense” were important because he persuaded much of the American public to join in spirit and action with the
Teacher: Ms. Amauri Amoa
Grade: 90/100
Associates Degree Level
Revolution in the Atlantic World
2nd November, 2011
Discuss the ways in which the ideas of the Enlightenment shaped the birth of the American Republic between 1775 and 1787.
The Enlightenment was an epoch of important philosophical, social and rational reformation which birthed itself out of Europe. Famous Philosophers such as John Locke, Jeremy Bentham, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Voltaire questioned social structure as they assessed the authoritarian states of the day through critical writings. These critical writings encapsulated ideals, such as individualism, freedom, equality, popular sovereignty and the belief of inherent or inalienable human rights, which inspired revolution in America halfway across the world. But it is not as if these ideals actively did anything themselves, since (obviously) they are inanimate. Instead, it is the people who prioritised these principles that really brought about change. For the purposes of this essay, only the three figures of Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson, will be discussed in this effort to show how the ideas of the Enlightenment (which will be underlined for the convenience of the reader) that they used fashioned the dawn of the America we know today. The enlightenment ideas gave these political figures the means to gain the support of the people and paved the path for the spirit and success of the revolution and the new American Republic.
Thomas Paine was a political writer who wrote a best-selling pamphlet in 1776 called “Common Sense”. It “brought Enlightenment ideas to bear on the American Revolution” . The pamphlet emphasised the importance of freedom for humanity, basic human rights, the sovereignty of the people, and the social contract. Paine and “Common Sense” were important because he persuaded much of the American public to join in spirit and action with the
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