¶ … Enlightenment Upon the Colonies
Enlightenment
As may be common knowledge by people raised, educated, and living in America for many years will know, during the American Enlightenment period, many people were inspired. There were ideas abound. It was an era of relative tolerance and humanist thinking. Documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were composed and ratified during this period as well. Clearly, the American Enlightenment is an important period in American history, but how did the European version that preceded it influence the thinking and the actions of the time in a place across the ocean? The European Enlightenment had begun during the mid-17th century and been going on before the colonies were the colonies and certainly before they were the United States. Fundamental to the European Enlightenment were ideals such the liberation the human mind, and the application of reason to behavior & religion. While the Enlightenment took various forms depending on the country, despite the variation, all across Europe...
Had the Enlightenment in Europe not occurred, the nature of the colonies may have not been such that they turned into the country as we know today as the United States of America.
The Enlightenment period first began in Europe and then traveled to the colonies (as they were forming) during the 18th century. Thus, during this period, there was the European Enlightenment, the American Revolution, and the American Enlightenment. The timeframe of in question is from the mid to late 18th century. There are many qualities that characterize the European Enlightenment, which is a movement that is critical to understand if one endeavors to connect this period with the actual formation of the United States of America.
In America, colonial Europeans studied the ideas of Enlightenment figures from England, Scotland, and France primarily. They were enchanted by ideas regarding religious freedom, a democratic republic, and liberty. These ideas are at the core of the American national identity back during…
