The American Revolution and Enlightenment Ideas Objective: Explain the connections among Enlightenment ideas and the American Revolution.

Enlightenment and Political Revolutions One of the most important aspects of life that Enlightenment thinking affected was that of politics (government). Its influence on governments in North America, France, and Latin America has shaped the world we live in today.

The American Revolution In 1760, George III became king of Great Britain. He was by no means an absolute monarch. The separation of powers in the English system of government was an effective limit on the powers of the monarch. In addition, the English had, over centuries, won many guarantees of rights and freedoms that the citizens of other European nations lacked. To a large extent, male property owners in Britain’s North American colonies shared the same rights and freedoms as male property owners in England. While each colony had a governor, it also had a colonial legislature that made laws for the colony.

Discord Between Great Britain and the American Colonies After French and Indian War (Seven Year’s War), Britain was deeply in debt. (1763) Parliament, the British legislature, looked to the colonies as a source of much-needed funds. To increase revenue, Parliament tightened its control of colonial trade and made more effort to collect taxes that were already in place. Then over the next decade Parliament passed a series of new taxes that targeted the colonies.

New Taxes Stamp Act: Imposed a tax on most printed documents, including newspapers First time Parliament levied a tax for the purpose of raising money. All earlier taxes were for the purpose of regulating trade. The colonists were used to these taxes.

New Taxes They were part of the policy of mercantilism: which held that colonies existed as a source of raw materials and as a market for their home countries. The colonists protested the new tax. The American colonist James Otis argued that the colonists could not be taxed by the British Parliament because they had no representatives there.

New Taxes The colonial rallying cry became “no taxation without representation.” Their protests were met with punitive measures by the British, such as additional taxes and the quartering of British troops in the colonies. Over the next ten years, Parliament continued to tax the colonies, and the colonists continued to protest, sometimes violently.

The Revolution Begins By 1775, fighting had broken out, and by July 4, 1776, the colonies were in revolt. Patriot leaders such as Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry had called for independence from Britain for some time. They based their arguments for independence on Enlightenment writings, especially on the work of John Locke. Patriots embraced the right to rid themselves of a government that they felt had broken the social contract. ???

Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson was chosen by members of the Second Continental Congress to draft a Declaration of Independence. Jefferson was well educated and familiar with the writings of Enlightenment thinkers. He borrowed many of their ideas in drafting the Declaration.

Declaration of Independence Jefferson wrote that all men are born with the natural rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is no accident that the words of John Locke and Thomas Jefferson are similar.

Constitution of the United States Enlightenment ideas also influenced the new nation’s constitution. James Madison had studied and thought a great deal about what the government structure for the new should be. His ideas drew heavily on Enlightenment thinkers. For example, Madison used Montesquieu’s ideas of the separation of powers and checks and balances to create the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the U.S. government and to explain their functions.