Previous to the Enlightenment, great emphasis was placed on God and religion. It was a major reasons the colonies were started in the first place. So when people began to favor science over long held beliefs it brought on some big changes. Isaac Newton and others revealed that the world was governed by laws of nature, not magic or a spiritual force. People began to doubt God, much less that He could give anyone the right to rule. Even the most fiery of ministers soon began to advocate for science.
This change in thinking brought people to believe John Locke's ideas of the rights to life, liberty and property. It prompted them to question whether they should remove their current government and replace it with another. You could say that it
This change in thinking brought people to believe John Locke's ideas of the rights to life, liberty and property. It prompted them to question whether they should remove their current government and replace it with another. You could say that it