The Enlightenment: US Constitution

The Enlightenment was created in France in the 1700’s. It was a movement in Europe that was about applying reason to all aspects of life. During this movement, Philosophers used five concepts that they built upon to create the Enlightenment; reason, nature, happiness, progress, and an envy for England's glorious revolution and their bill of rights. The Enlightenment was a European movement that sparked and challenged new ideas about the relationship of common people to their governments. Over a period of time Enlightenment ideas spread outside of Europe and created a change of governments around the globe.

The Enlightenment in Europe was also known as the Age of Reason. It was a philosophical movement that was based on reason, liberty, and science rather than superstitions and faith. It allowed new thoughts and ideas to prosper among the people, and changed the way they lived their lives. The Age of Reason led to revolution because the Enlightenment writers expressed their ideas on human rights and problems that went on socially, economically, and politically. These ideas prospered throughout the people which changed the way they think and live their daily lives.

The Enlightenment took place during the 17th and 18th Century in Europe. It was a time in which philosophes questioned social norms and found their voice. These three philosophes argued that all individuals both men and women should have more freedom. The Enlightenment was a time period in which people questioned the government, religion, and gender. John Locke, one of the four philosophes was a huge figure in the Enlightenment as he questioned the ways of the government and how it run.

The period of enlightenment was a philosophical movement in hopes to better the human experience of society as a whole. This movement originated in Western Europe and began in the 18th century. Key beliefs of the enlightenment directly correlate to those of various revolutions and basic understanding of the modern western world. Key beliefs of the enlightenment included tolerance and deism, but most importantly the natural rights of man. Natural rights are inalienable rights of life, liberty, and property that each individual is born with.

The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement with various bright ideas in Europe during the 18th century. These ideas brought upon inventions, which have changed the course of history throughout many generations. The Enlightenment not only brought change to England, but to America as well. Many people were inspired by the Enlightenment and had many great revelations. An example would be Jean Jacques Rousseau, a francophone Genevan philosopher.

The Age of Enlightenment was a philosophical movement beginning in France that stressed logic and reason as the basis of authority. The movement lasted through the 18th and 19th centuries. The movement brought along changes and leaders along with forever impacting world history. As stated above, the movement began in France and was inspired by King Louis XIV and his absolute control. He taxed many to starvation and poverty and built the Palace of Versaille to show off his wealth while believing he was made by God to be king.

The European Enlightenment came from two simultaneous revolts from two different sides of the English Channel – France and England. The revolts resulted in many intellectual, educational and political advances. “Rather, enlightened read books and journals and frequented the coffeehouses, salons, Masonic lodges, and reading clubs that sprang up all over Europe and in the European colonies.” The age of Enlightenment is seen as a time period where people were able to invest time in more than just a job and family. The people who were leading this revolution are stereotyped as aristocrats.

The constitution was a product of the Founding Fathers, who are the traditional American political elite, and therefore their ideology was translated into the document because the elite were held to the highest regard. The influences of the Enlightenment in the United States can be traced back to The Articles of Confederation and The Declaration of Independence, which were direct predecessors of the Constitution. The political elite created the Constitution of 1787, and outlined the ideals and laws of the United States. Abusing this power, the men of the Constitutional Convention wrote articles reflecting their personal and economic interests. The United States Constitution of 1787 represented an ideological and economic victory for the America’s

The Enlightenment had a big impact on the creation of the U.S. Constitution in view of the Social Contract, Montesquieu’s idea to have a separation of powers, and Locke’s idea of natural rights. The Social Contract had a big effect on the U.S. Constitution because it gave citizens more freedom. Citizens had the right to criticize or even rebel, (protest, remove, vote out of office) against the government if it was not living up to its end of the contract. The deal of the contract was that people give up some of their freedom to the government and the government protects them and guarantees their rights. Ideas from the Social Contract can be seen in the first Amendment of the Constitution, the rules about Habeas Corpus and the 14th Amendment.

The Enlightenment was basically a European movement that was led from 1687 to 1789, when a new “enlightened” view of humanity and god grew out of the new findings of science. Where Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and etc applied principles of reason scientific method. The enlightenment was important because they created their own government, and they were their own people. How the enlightenment happen; it all started when people in Europe realized they had many ideas and could think for them. They were not happy with the way their government was treating them.

The Enlightenment was critical in many aspects of the colonial America way of life, which commonly affected the politics, government and religion. Without these principles of understanding and the new way of thinking, the United States would have drastically been different since those ideas shaped the country in its infant years. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution was overwhelmingly influenced by The Enlightenment both during and after the American Revolution. Many different concepts came from this new governmental structure such as, freedom of oppression and natural rights. These concepts were influenced by Enlightenment philosophers such as John Locke and Isaac Newton where they helped set a clear path for colonial and present America to follow.

The Enlightenment is a period of time famous for the discoveries made throughout it. The 17th and 18th century were part of that very important period of time, often called the Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason. The reason this period of time is important is because of all the inventions, discoveries, and of new ways of living that were brought up throughout it. The people responsible for these findings are the philosophes of the Enlightenment, meaning the philosophers and enlightened thinkers who achieved all they did due to their open minds, ability to make sense of things, their ability to question the norm, and the way they changed the lives of others.

The Enlightenment gave people power to make the changes they wanted for independence and politics using intellect and reason, their natural right. The norm of a society that is modelled today became reason over

The Enlightenment was a period during the 1600 and 1700s where authority, power, government and law was questioned by philosophers. The causes of the Enlightenment was the Thirty Years’ War, centuries of mistreatment at the hands of monarchies and the church, greater exploration of the world, and European thinkers’ interest in the world (scientific study). A large part of the Enlightenment was natural law, which was the belief that people should live their lives and organize their society on the basis of rules and precepts laid down by nature or God; the principles of the Enlightenment in the 1600s through the 1700s influenced the development of the USA by advocating religious and social freedom, freeing the people from oppression, and providing

The Enlightenment in Europe is considered to have taken place in the 18th century, however the ideas that were brought forth in this period had started much earlier as people began to look at things like science and explorations long before. Before this period, most Europeans did not think on their own and instead listened to others, such as monarchies and churches, on what they should believe. They mainly listened to what they were told by the monarchy and churches because if they were to go against them, especially the monarchy, they would certainly be killed. This way of thinking changed for the Europeans once they actually studied the sciences of the world around them instead of just accepting what they were told. This went on to lead to the European Enlightenment.