How Did The Enlightenment Influence America

The Enlightenment’s Idea’s Influence on America The ideas from the Enlightenment included the philosophies of Voltaire, Baron de Montesquieu John Locke, Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. These ideas included inalienable rights such as freedom, life, privacy, etc. There is a social “contract.” In return of the government protecting the people’s rights, the people would let the government rule. If this contract was not kept, the people had the right to overthrow the government. There was also the idea or the Separation of Powers. It was the idea that the government should be split into branches. The British government was mistreating the colonies. The king was passing crazy laws and taxes and the people were getting mad. The government