The correct answer is: "the Enlightment period".
The Enlighment movement emerged in Europe and was constituted by philosophers that promoted Reason and the scientific method over medieval superstition and religious dogmas, and the establishment of democratic societies where the power resided on its people, and not in monarchs or rulers "appointed by God". The resulting states enacted bills of civil rights for the first time in history, and implemented principles such as the division of powers or the social contract, through which citizens elected their governors by suffrage.
Such Enlightment principles were transferred to the American colonies, where the population claimed for political representation rather than being governed by foreigners that were appointed by a foreign king. Such claims were ignored and, influenced by the new democratic principles, the revolutionary movements for independence aroused.
