How did the Enlightenment influence the American Revolution?
The period of enlightenment was a period when people started to reason and question the order of things. everything was questioned even down right to religion. one of the most important Philosophes whose writing influenced the American revolution was John Locke. one of the ideas of John Locke- the idea of Natural rights (life, liberty and property) was fundamental to the American declaration of independence, which stated that “…all men… are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;…”. Hence when king George III started imposing taxes on them and punishing those who went against the various Acts , they saw it as an attack on their human rights.Also Locke and Rousseau’s ideas on social contract helped shape the minds of the leaders of the American revolution thereby affecting the revolution itself. in Rousseau’s social contract he argued that the only good government was the one freely formed by the people and guided by the “general will” of the society. John Locke in the Two treatises of government also argued that government should rule based on the consent of the governed. These ideas of John Locke and Jean Jacques Rousseau formed the basis for the American revolutionary movement of popular sovereignty.Locke furthermore said in the two treatises of government that the citizens had a right to revolt against whatever government failed to protect their rights. It could be said that Thomas Paine an American who wrote the pamphlet titled “Common Sense” in 1776 drew his idea from Locke. He attacked the monarchy in his pamphlet and insisted that common Americans had the ability to be their own kings and were far more deserving of leadership posts than those who had worn English crowns. this idea was also reflected in the declaration of independence document wrote by Thomas Jefferson “…that whenever any form of government becomes destructive … it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it…” Hence the Americans felt the need for a revolution to “abolish” the government that had become “destructive”.
How was the american revolution revolutionary?
It was made out (advertised) to be so but I don't think so. Its impact on the rest of the world(outside of USA) is minimal unlike the French revolution or te Russian (Bolshevik) revolution that has changed the complexion of political thinking for good, all over the globe. In North America (and in the 13 colonies particularly) the same ethnic British fought against their own kinsmen on the principle of paying obeisance to 'Crown' with freedom from these trappings as the other choice. While mouthing slogans like Equality of all Men, they treated the native Americans like vermin and massacred them the same way they did the American Bison. It is the fight of a few thousand men freed from the oppressive feudal society of Britain then, who tasted absolute freedom in a vast, lush continent with unploughed, virgin soil. There they could aspire to be the lords of a few thousand acres even without asking anyone. The land is theirs till the horizon and the only constraint is their ability to manage all that land they viewed. Even the native Americans were sparsely populated unlike populations in Europe. It is the same feeling that a fox or hyena gets viewing the carcass of an elephant all for itself. With the new privileges and prosperity and no thought of returning back home, they couldn't care less. Emboldened thus and knowing their own mind (same English) it is not that hard for them to defeat the red coats of the British Crown; motivated by their own determination and to severe links with Britain. They borrowed heavily from the ancient Greek political institutions of Plato ("Republic") and others. You can't call that 'innovation'. Till this day they claim Greeco-Roman political heritage that didn't include even an iota of native cultures of their adapted continent.
Who was Simon Bolivar of South America?
Simon Bolivar (1783-1830) Simon Bolivar was one of South America's greatest generals. His victories over the Spaniards won independence for Bolivia, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela. He is called El Liberator (The Liberator) and the "George Washington of South America." Bolivar was born in July 24, 1783, at Caracas, Venezuela. His parents died when he was a child and he inherited a fortune. As a young man, he traveled in Europe. As he returned to Venezuela, Bolivar joined the group of patriots that seized Caracas in 1810 and proclaimed independence from Spain. He went to Great Britain in search of aid, but could get only a promise of British neutrality. When he returned to Venezuela, and took command of a patriot army, he recaptured Caracas in 1813 from the Spaniards. The Spaniards forced Bolivar to retreat from Venezuela to New Granada (now Colombia), also at war with Spain. He took command of a Colombian force and captured Bogota in 1814. The patriots, however, lacked men and supplies, and new defeats led Bolivar to flee to Jamaica. In Haiti he gathered a force that landed in Venezuela in 1816, and took Angostra (now Ciudad Bolivar). He also became dictator there. Bolivar marched into New Granada in 1819. He defeated the Spaniards in Boyar in 1819, liberating the territory of Colombia. He then returned to Angostura and led the congress that organized the original republic of Colombia (now Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, and Venezuela). Bolivar became its first president on December 17, 1819. Bolivar crushed the Spanish army at Carabobo in Venezuela on June 24, 1821. Next, he marched into Educador and added that territory to the new Colombian republic. After a meeting in 1822 with another great liberator, Bolivar became dictator of Peru. His army won a victory over the Spaniards at Auacucho in 1824, which needed Spanish power in South America. Upper Peru became a separate state, named Bolivia in Bolivar's honor, in 1825. The constitution, which he drew up for Bolivia, is one of his most important political pronouncements.