Capitalism was a major factor
The most common source for this would be the Second Treatise on Government by John Locke, the philosopher who inspired things like the French Revolution and the American Declaration of independence, precisely because of those ideas that you mentioned.
Johannes Gutenberg famously printed the Bible on his printing press. This was a significant moment in history because it allowed many more people to read the text and form their own interpretations.
I won't completely disagree with the other answer given here, but would like to offer broader context and explanation. Yes, during the Scientific Revolution the humanism of the Renaissance did help thinking persons to see that human beings themselves could shape and order many things in the created world. But note that I used the term, "created world," since the scientists of the Scientific Revolution still held onto belief in God and saw God as the one who designed the universe with order in it. Their task as scientists, as they saw it, was to discover how the physical world was ordered and how human beings could use their own knowledge and experimentation to understand and improve conditions in it.
As an example, consider this section from Isaac Newton's writing on <em>Opticks </em>(1704), in which he is seeking to understand how light and vision operate. Notice how God is seen as the one who created order, and the human scientist is striving to understand and work in keeping with that orderly pattern.
<em>All these things being considered, it seems probable to me, that God in the Beginning form’d matter in solid, massy, hard, impenetrable, moveable Particles, of such Sizes and Figures, and with such other Properties, and in such Proportion to Space, as most conduced to the end for which he form’d them; and these primitive Particles being Solids, are incomparably harder than any porous Bodies compounded of them; even so very hard as never to wear or break in pieces: no ordinary Power being able to divide what God himself made one in the first Creation.</em>
The Enlightenment influenced the French Revolution in some major areas. First, it transformed the monarchy. It ushered in the new concept of the Republic. ... TheEnlightenment philosophers began to contest the dogma of the Catholic Church, which considered earthly life to be a simple passage towards eternal life.
In the Enlightenment, people had new ideas about government. This gave the French the perfect way to have their country work well.
John Locke, an Enlightenment thinker, said that no king should have absolute power. He believed in a constitutional monarchy, which basically meant he thought that any ruler should have rules to follow too. He also believed in a social contract: people give a little of their freedom to their ruler, but he/she cannot take away their natural rights, the rights that they are born with, and they have the right to get rid of him/her if he/she is a bad ruler. The French liked these ideas.
Baron de Montesquieu believed in a separation of powers into three branches (executive, legislative, and judicial). He said they should hold equal power so it did not become a despotism (tyranny). His ideas were influential in many countries, including America.
Voltaire, an Enlightenment writer, thought that people should have the right to free speech and religious freedom, which they did not really have. This idea became an important part of all Enlightenment thinking and many governments.
Cesare Beccaria thought people should be allowed a fair and speedy trial with no torture and no "cruel and unusual punishments," an idea prized in many countries that had poor legal systems. He also disagreed with capital punishment (execution).
Mary Wollstonecraft and Olympe de Gouges believed in equal rights for everyone, including women. De Gouges, a French woman, was executed for her beliefs.
The French believed in the ideas of these thinkers, as well as other popular Enlightenment ideas, so they tried to overthrow their government. The revolution was, unfortunately, very poorly planned and resulted in chaos, the opposite of what they aimed for. It turned into a bloodbath, many people were guillotined. A very harsh tyrant, Napolean Bonaparte was put in charge of the country.
The ideas of the French Enlightenment philosophers strongly influenced the American revolutionaries. French
intellectuals met in salons to exchange ideas and define their ideals such as liberty, equality, and justice.
