EnlightenmentEnlightenment IdeasIdeas andand PhilosophersPhilosophers

TheThe AgeAge ofof ReasonReason andand it’sit’s InfluenceInfluence onon thethe FoundingFounding ofof thethe UnitedUnited StatesStates ofof AmericaAmerica

1 TheThe EnlightenmentEnlightenment

 Also known as The Age of Reason  Individuals began to examine the standards by which rulers governed. The principles of this time held that everything, including government, was worth examination and scrutiny. These principles spread to our early political scientists.

2 EnlightenmentEnlightenment IdeasIdeas

 These new liberal ideas stated that individuals had natural rights and that government GDO1 was an agreement or contract between the people and their ruler. In this governmental contract both the ruler and the citizen had rights and responsibilities.

3 Slide 3

GDO1 Natural (or human) rights: those rights one has simply by virtue of being human; those rights all persons have; generally, these are rights like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to assemble, etc. These are known in law as "civil liberties." By contrast, not all persons have what are known as "civil rights": those rights one has by virtue of being a citizen, such as the right to vote or run for office. Gerald O'Connor, 8/25/2006 EnlightenmentEnlightenment IdeasIdeas

 Power needed to be separated and balanced so that individuals or groups did not become corrupt through those powers.  The people wanted a change from absolutism and the divine right of kings to constitutionalism.  Constitutionalism was the belief that the government contract should be written down, making clear what powers were given to whom.

4 EnlightenmentEnlightenment IdeasIdeas

 The philosophers believed that the government "contract" and its supporting laws needed to reflect the "general will" of the people. Laws should be agreed upon by both the ruler and those governed. Assemblies of citizens should be formed with real power to influence the government

and judge whether rulers acted properly. 5 EnlightenmentEnlightenment IdeasIdeas  Rulers and governments that abused their power and did not protect the rights of the citizens were corrupt and the people had a right to rebel and replace the ruler. The ruler also had the right to expect that the citizens would respect the government and laws that were just.

6 EnlightenmentEnlightenment IdeasIdeas

 Enlightenment thinkers believed that science and reason led to progress, that knowledge was attainable by man (not just a revelation by God), and that man wanted to free himself from the existing religious worldview through scientific understanding.

7 EnlightenmentEnlightenment PhilosophersPhilosophers

8 JohnJohn Locke,Locke, 16321632--17041704

 wrotewrote TwoTwo TreatisesTreatises ofof GovernmentGovernment  hishis ideasideas werewere usedused byby JeffersonJefferson inin thethe DeclarationDeclaration ofof IndependenceIndependence  believedbelieved allall individualsindividuals hadhad naturalnatural rightsrights whichwhich includeinclude ““life,life, liberty,liberty, andand propertyproperty””  statestate shouldshould protectprotect individualindividual rightsrights  citizenscitizens shouldshould rebelrebel againstagainst unjustunjust governmentsgovernments  believedbelieved inin religiousreligious freedomfreedom  supportedsupported women'swomen's rightsrights

9 BaronBaron dede Montesquieu,Montesquieu, 16891689--17551755

 wrotewrote OnOn thethe SpiritSpirit ofof LawsLaws  arguedargued forfor aa threethree--partpart governmentgovernment ---- legislativelegislative,, executiveexecutive,, andand judicialjudicial  believedbelieved inin thethe separationseparation ofof governmentalgovernmental powerspowers  U.S.U.S. governmentgovernment isis basedbased onon hishis suggestedsuggested structurestructure  BelievedBelieved inin thethe rightsrights ofof thethe individualindividual  influencedinfluenced thethe writingwriting ofof constitutionsconstitutions ofof manymany countriescountries includingincluding thethe UnitedUnited StatesStates

10 JeanJean JacquesJacques Rousseau,Rousseau, 17121712--17881788

 wrotewrote TheThe SocialSocial ContractContract  hehe isis consideredconsidered anan opponentopponent ofof thethe EnlightenmentEnlightenment’’ss emphasisemphasis onon reasonreason alonealone  believedbelieved politicspolitics andand moralitymorality areare notnot separateseparate  believedbelieved peoplepeople shouldshould relyrely moremore onon instinctinstinct andand emotionemotion  statestate isis createdcreated toto preservepreserve freedomfreedom  governmentgovernment isis aa contractcontract betweenbetween thethe rulerruler andand citizenscitizens

11 ThomasThomas PainePaine

 Born in England and arrived in America only in 1774, was one of the first to grasp that America could mean a “sanctuary of freedom for humanity.” His pamphlet “Common Sense” stands as the most widely read and most influential. It persuaded George Washington to stop supporting the King of England, and some allege that it inspired Thomas Jefferson as he wrote the Declaration of Independence. 12 ThomasThomas PainePaine

 When Thomas Paine wrote that “we have it in our power to begin the world over again,” he both captured the imaginations of colonists who yearned for freedom and sensed that the American Revolution could be an event of historical importance that could inspire future generations. Paine’s words established that devotion to freedom formed the essence of American nationalism --- a concept that lasts to the present day.

13 ThomasThomas JeffersonJefferson

 Thomas Jefferson considered the Declaration of Independence his greatest achievement. It remains the best example of Enlightenment thought, and it marked the beginning of self-government in America. But the Declaration was a personal achievement for Jefferson as well, a masterpiece of eloquence that still inspires us today.

14 ThomasThomas JeffersonJefferson

 Near the end of his life, Jefferson explained his goal in writing the Declaration of Independence:  Not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before thought of, not merely to say things which had never been said before; but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent... Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular or previous writing, it was intended to be an expression of the American mind, and to give to that expression the proper tone and spirit called for by the occasion.

15 JeffersonJefferson andand MasonMason

 It is the “tone and spirit” of Jefferson's writing that make the Declaration of Independence something more than a statement of political principles. To see this, let’s compare Jefferson's words to those of another Virginian, George Mason, whose “Declaration of Rights” was adopted by the Virginia assembly on June 12, 1776, while Jefferson was still working on his first draft of his Declaration.

16 GeorgeGeorge MasonMason’’ss JeffersonJefferson’’ss DeclarationDeclaration ofof DeclarationDeclaration ofof RightsRights IndependenceIndependence  All men are by nature  We hold these truths to be equally free and self-evident: that all men are independent, and have created equal; that they are certain inherent rights, of endowed by their Creator which, when they enter into with certain unalienable a state of society, they rights; that among these are cannot, by any compact, life, liberty and the pursuit deprive or divest their of happiness... posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. 17