How Did The Enlightenment Influence The American Government

Governments have changed throughout the years but one thing that has not and that is people voicing their opinions on the way their society runs. Many intellectual thinkers throughout the Enlightenment had voiced their opinions on how to make a government run more effectively. Writers such as Locke, Montesquieu, and Voltaire voiced their opinions on government and the United States heard it loud and clear. The Enlightenment was a remarkable time for development and it had a substantial influence in the United States government. The United States would not be the same if it were not for gaining our independence from Great Britain in 1776 with the help of Enlightenment thinkers. The want for independence was not just a run of the mill idea, our founding …show more content…
Although they did not just come up with their ideas on their own when establishing the constitution of the United States the founding fathers looked to Enlightenment thinkers for some inspiration. John Locke a famous Enlightenment thinker once wrote about how the the government only has has power “ from a compact, and agreement, and the mutual consent of those who make up the community”(Locke). Meaning that the government only has as much power as given to them from the people. If the government is not working for the people they can get rid of the government 's influences and reform it to fit the needs of the society. This is exactly what the United States did in order to remove the British from power, we created the declaration of independence in order to get the point across that we need to be well independent. Without the declaration of independence we would not have the luxury of “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness”(Jefferson). Citizens of the United States under British control were not happy, they were constantly being taxed for things that tax did not need to be on