Question

Why did colonists like Benjamin Franklin admire and find inspiration in enlightenment ideas

Answer 1

The Revolutionary War and the Enlightenment are two processes that shared very similar ideological foundations.

The Enlightenment was an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated European thinking during the eighteenth century. Many of the movement's ideas were similar to those pursued in the colonies, for example: individual liberty, equality of men, democratic rule, universal rights, constitutional government and the separation of church and state. Because of this, several colonists who supported independence, such as Benjamin Franklin, found inspiration in the work and ideas of European philosophers that contributed to the movement.