The Enlightenment was a philosophical movement during the 18th century that included progressive thought in liberty, church and state, constitutional rights/government, and authority. The American and French revolutions were both highly influenced by the enlightenment. Certain philosophical figures such as John Locke and Rousseau's ideas were adopted by revolutionaries. Locke argued that kings and monarchs should not have absolute power and that people should give away a little bit of certain freedom while keeping their natural rights that they are born with. This is evident by King George III of England using his monarch powers to impose heavy taxes on the colonists, who felt that they were loosing rights as they were taxed without proper representation. The drafting of the Declaration of Independence also echoed Locke's emphasis on life, liberty and property by saying 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Thomas Jefferson was highly influenced by the idea of citizens having the right to overthrow their government which was stated by John Locke.
The French Revolution was also similar in that it was influenced by enlightened thought as well. The majority of the French population was always outvoted in the Estate assembly, where the nobility and clergy always outvoted the third Estate made up of commoners and the lower class who were suffering from economic depression. Voltaire, one writer thought that citizens have the right to free speech and religious tolerance which was lacking to the French majority. Also, King Louis XVI was highly incompetent with handling the economic issues faced by those in the third Estate. Rousseau was influential with his concept of a social contract by stating that "man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains", which is similarly states in the Declaration of the Rights of Man stating that "men are born and remain free and equal in rights". The progressive ideas were influential to two revolutions that were both rooted in political and social oppression by an authoritative body. Without these thinkers, there would be little guidance for revolutionaries who seeked a better form of government and basic rights.<span />
Answer: This is quite a complicated question and therefore requires quite a complicated and extensive answer. While it may seem like a minimum wage is good for the lowest-paid workers it isn't very good for an economy and workers as a whole. The reason for this being is that having a minimum wage and subsequently raising it (as is being done throughout the United States) boosts inflation meaning the price for products rises, (essentially negating all benefits that the workers received from a higher minimum wage.) Now while the lowest class workers don't really receive any benefit from this as their wage goes up but the products they produce also go up in price as well, but the average middle class consumer gets hit hard by this as their product prices raise but they still have the same wage. Another downside to having a minimum wage and having it consistently rising is that companies are forced to cut employees or not hire any more people all together. This is why jobless claims rise after wages rise. Companies cannot afford to pay workers a higher minimum wage and keep all their workers at the same time otherwise they would go in the red. This forces them to make cuts in staffing. Minimum wage would mandate that even if a potential worker and company agree on a price to pay for their work, the law would mandate that this would not be a possibility essentially making work harder to find. Minimum wage should not even really be needed as companies and workers should be able to find a good and fair price for work on their own without the governments help. If a worker doesn't like the wage they are receiving then they can quite and find a better paying job. This also boosts competition among businesses as they are all fighting for workers to fill their jobs and would also raise the wage, but in a natural process without all the detriments that artificially raising the minimum wage brings. Companies should be allowed to hire workers at whatever pay per hour they so what as long as it is agreed to as well by the worker. This means that more jobs are open to a more wide variety of people and that also means that if people want to work for less they can still be open to that opportunity as well.
