DBQ Essay: People's Rights In The Enlightenment

People’s Rights in the Enlightenment
Towards the end of the Renaissance, philosophers began to think of new ways of government and the structure of society. Important changes were made that eventually brought the world to where it is today. This period was called the enlightenment which existed during the late seventeenth century and the eighteenth century. For example, John Locke’s ideas about limiting the power of government were a great contrast to the absolute monarchies of the time. Voltaire wrote about religious toleration which encouraged many different religions to live amongst each other. In the economic field, Adam Smith taught of a capitalistic society where the people control the economy rather than the government. As for …show more content…
Before the enlightenment, most states had one overruling religion which was chosen by the government. As time progressed, however, it became clear that some people would not follow what the rulers told them to do, leading to fighting and chaos. Different enlightenment thinkers came up with the idea of have many different religions coexist in order to balance out society. From his Letters Concerning the English Nation, Voltaire wrote about how if only two religions lived together, they would kill each other, but if many religions coexist, they would live in peace (Document B). This reflects the idea of protecting people’s rights as it shows how people are entitled to do as they choose, rather than what the government chooses for them. This idea is very similar to John Locke’s ideas as they both believe in allowing people to make their own choices in society. These philosophers show how personal rights create peace and improve society better than a single person’s rule. Instead of the government controlling the religion in their state, the enlightenment idea of many religions shows a decline in the power of