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”.
In what ways did the enlightenment lead to the American revolution?
I wouldn't say the enlightenment directly led to the American revolution however it did contribute to some extent.The enlightenment provided ideas which became the philosophical basis of the revolution itself. It inspired the Declaration of Independence which drew on englightnent ideas.To simpfy the enlightenment it focuses on the concepts of social contract ( belief that the state only exists to serve the right of the people) . The American people believed that the British government did not have their interests at heart, mainly using America for trading purposes and ‘unfair’ taxes, due to this Britain ( the state) was not serving the people so this lead to revolt as the state was no longer serving in their best interests of the American people.The enlightenment also focuses on the consent of the governed and the separation of powers.The seperation of powers meant that no one could gain absolute power. This was the main idea behind the American government this lead to revolution as people wanted a fair way of government where they all had a say compared to the British government where it was parliament and the king. This didn't necessarily lead to the revolution but it did influence the government that was to be set up on America after winning the warHope this has answered your question to some extent \U0001f60a
What is the impact of the Russian Revolution?
The problem is that Nicholas and Alexandra were the two stupidest people ever to try and govern a major country. Even at that they may have survived if it wasn’t for the entry into WW 1. This resulted in severe hardship and famine at home and an unsustainable number of casualties at the front. The people wanted “Bread and Peace” and the government was giving them famine and war.The next major causes came about because the autocracy led by the czar refused to share power with a rising middle-class. In Russia, power had always been in the hands of the nobility but as the country began to modernize it gave rise to a new “capitalist class” whose standing was based on wealth rather than land and coming from a noble family. As a sop to this growing class, a duma or parliament was formed, but was essentially powerless and existed at the pleasure of the aristocracy.After the czar was forced to abdicate, the duma was able to seize power and formed a liberal government under Kerensky. Unfortunately, they did not understand the importance of withdrawing from the war, which paved the way for Lenin and the Bolsheviks who were willing to make peace at any price.After the Bolsheviks seized power, a civil war broke out between them and the nobility. (The Reds and the Whites). Armies from the western allies were sent to intervene on behalf of the whites; but to no great effect except to cause years of mistrust and enmity between the new Soviet Government and the Western Powers.The Reds won the war because the whites were just as ineffectual as the czar had been. The Reds would go into an area and redistribute the land from the nobles to the peasants. When the whites came in, they would take the land away from the peasants and give it back to the nobles.This is a very broad outline of these events. There are many excellent books on the subject and if you are interested, I would recommend that you read three or four of them to get a clearer and more detailed picture of these events.