Question

How do Enlightenment thinkers influenced resistance to traditional political authority and notions of social hierarchy in Europe and the Americas

Answer 1

Enlightenment would be the cause of battles for independence such as the American Revolution and the French Revolution. Philosophers such as John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Montesquieu argued that countries should be ruled under a republic, not a monarchy. The main ideas from them would be natural rights, the social contract, and the separation of powers. These ideas would inspire people in America to rebel against their tyrants in order to implement this system of ideas inspired by the Enlightenment.