Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
REVOLUTION:
1) BRITAIN RESTRICTING
WESTERN SETTLEMENT
2) VIOLENCE AGAINST
COLONISTS
3) TAXATION WITHOUT
REPRESENTATION
4) ATTACKS ON LIBERTIES /
INTOLERABLE ACTS
5) ENLIGHTENMENT
IDEAS
THE BIBLE WAS THE SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HIM, ESPECIALLY THE OLD TESTAMENT,
FOR THERE ONE COULD LEARN, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THE HISTORY OF HUMANKIND AND
THE DIVINE PURPOSES.
EVEN POLITICAL QUESTIONS WERE TO BE SOLVED BY THE OLD TESTAMENT.
EVERYTHING WAS UNDERSTOOD TO WORK ACCORDING TO GODS PLAN.
THE EVENTS OF HISTORY WERE NOT CHANCE OCCURRENCES, BUT EVENTS THAT SERVED TO
CARRY OUT GODS WILL.
THE UNIVERSE WAS FAIRLY YOUNG, HAVING BEEN CREATED BY GOD ABOUT 4000 YEARS
BEFORE CHRIST, AND IT WAS KEPT IN OPERATION THROUGH GODS IMMEDIATE INVOLVEMENT.
THE EARTH WAS AT THE PHYSICAL CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE; SINCE MAN WAS THE HIGHEST
LEVEL OF CREATION, CLEARLY GODS PURPOSES WERE CENTERED ON HIM.
Like what?
Logic:
Reason:
THE POWER OF THE MIND TO THINK,
UNDERSTAND, AND FORM
JUDGMENTS BY A PROCESS OF
LOGIC.
EXAMPLE ALL DOGS HAVE A GOOD SENSE OF SMELL. BAILEY IS A DOG. THEREFORE, DEDUCTIVE
REASONING LOGIC TELLS YOU THAT BAILEY HAS A GOOD SENSE OF SMELL.
ALL SENIORS ARE BAD DRIVERS. MR. JONES IS 70 YEARS OLD AND YOU WON'T LET HIM
DRIVE YOUR CAR BECAUSE YOU THINK HE IS AN UNSAFE DRIVER.
YOUR CONCLUSION IS THAT ALL THREE YEAR OLDS SPEND THEIR AFTERNOON
SCREAMING.
ONE OF THE MAJOR IDEAS OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT IS THAT PEOPLE SHOULD BE GOVERNED BY
REASON, NOT BY TRADITION. ENLIGHTENMENT THINKERS LIKE JOHN LOCKE SAW NO LOGICAL
REASON WHY KINGS SHOULD RULE RATHER THAN HAVING PEOPLE RULE THEMSELVES. THEY
BELIEVED THAT A MORE LOGICAL SYSTEM WAS ONE IN WHICH GOVERNMENT EXISTED BY THE
CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE. IN OTHER WORDS, THEY BELIEVED IN DEMOCRACY.
THE LEADERS OF THE REVOLUTION CLEARLY TOOK MANY OF THEIR POLITICAL IDEAS FROM
POLITICAL THINKERS OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT
The Enlightenment
THIS NEW WAY OF LOOKING AT THE WORLD, OF LISTENING FIRST TO EXPERIENCE RATHER
THAN TO TRADITION AND THE CHURCH, WAS A MAJOR CHARACTERISTIC OF THE
ENLIGHTENMENT.
JAMES TURNER CALLS THIS A NEW CAST OF MIND. NO LONGER WERE PEOPLE TO BE
DEPENDENT UPON THE CHURCH TO TELL THEM ABOUT THEIR WORLD. NOW THEY COULD
LEARN ABOUT IT IN OTHER WAYS.
THE COLONISTS, ORIGINALLY SUBJECTS OF THE ENGLISH MONARCHY, REBELLED AGAINST
ENGLAND IN ORDER TO GAIN MORE PERSONAL LIBERTY AND SOLIDIFY THEIR RIGHTS AS
FREE PEOPLE.
THE POST-REVOLUTION AMERICAN GOVERNMENT WAS FORMED AS A COMPLEX WEB OF
COUNTERACTING BRANCHES (EXECUTIVE, JUDICIAL, AND LEGISLATIVE), UNDERPINNED BY
A REGULATIVE CONSTITUTION, THAT HELPED ENSURE THAT GOVERNMENT WOULD NOT
BECOME TOO POWERFUL OR UNACCOUNTABLE TO OVERSIGHT.
THIS WAY, THE RIGHTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL COULD BE PROTECTED FROM OPPRESSIVE
GOVERNMENT.