Group Presentations: "The Enlightenment"
The Enlightenment was a revolutionary period in
English history where people began to accept the ideologies of the inherent
rights of man. The Enlightenment movement was concentrated in England and
gradually spread into the New England colonies. John Locke, philosopher,
believed in the “natural rights of man” which were: the right to life, liberty
and property. John Locke’s “natural rights of man”, were later adopted into the
American Declaration of Independence in 1776, where government is stated to
protect the inherent right of man: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Baron
de Montesquieu, another Enlightenment philosopher, believed in the separation
of powers creating 3 branches: the legislative, executive, and Judicial. The
separation of powers omitted corruption from one party to enter government, today
of which is known as the system of checks and balances. The splitting into
different branches gave the governed the right
to overthrow a government that they think is unfair. Thomas Hobbes,
philosopher, believed in the idea of a “social contract”, a contract between
the government and the governed which is not actually signed.
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| Enlightenment philosopher John Locke |
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