The Enlightenment was a time in which many philosophers came together and began to question the government they had lived under for quite some time. Some famous philosophers from this era are John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, and John Jack Rousseau. While the Enlightenment had different thinkers from different areas across history, these particular men had a lasting effect on the cause of the colonists during the American Revolution.
This was what the first group tried to communicate with us throughout their presentation, according to their thesis "The Enlightenment influenced the American Revolution in three different forms; natural rights, the three branches of power, and the social contract." I was still a bit confused as to what a social contract was, but when I looked online it said, "The agreement of social rights and duties: an agreement among individual people in a society or between the people and their government that outlines the rights and duties of each party. It derives from the ideas of Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau and involves people giving up freedoms in return for benefits such as state protection." When I saw this definition, the thesis became a bit more cohesive and I was able to understand so much more. While, the group struggled to clarify some topics in their presentation, they managed to do well and I did learn a lot.
To access some some primary sources from the thinkers themselves go to:
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