How the Declaration of Independence Reflected Enlightenment Values and Ideas
Even though there is no consensus concerning the exact period corresponding to the American enlightenment, it is okay to state that it took place during the eighteenth century. Enlightenment in the declaration of independence aims at giving a better understanding of human values, rights, and ideas through exercising justice, equality, and equity. The entire enlightenment idea gained inspiration from French and British enlightenments, and it was an idea based on the metaphor of shading some light to the Dark Ages (Gutzman par 1). In the American context, liberal thinkers such as Thomas Jefferson came up with ideas that pointed at revolution ideas in religious tolerance, scientific rationality, and political organizations' political sense. These ideas would, later on, have extended effects on the fledging nations’ development. Jefferson’s basis for the infamous democratic faith was human psychology (Gutzman par 2). Jefferson revealed every bit of the enlightenment myth of polymath by cleaving to the latest discoveries in science, math, and even literature. Understanding the declaration's principles concerning enlightenment is essential in preventing not only America but the world at large from falling back into oppression and tyranny.
Deism was a notion that some used to couple religion and science while to some of the thinkers, the natural rights of a person in the liberalism doctrine of anti-authoritarian were the preferred notion (Thompson 201). Similarly, to some thinkers, the touted importance of enlightened leadership and cultivating virtue in early republican thoughts was the notion of enlightenment. In the declaration of independence, however, the primary values and ideals used include the idea that everyone is created equal and is entitled to certain human rights. It was also based on the idea that the legitimacy of the government comes from the consent of the ones being governed. The other idea is that the primary purpose of the government is to ensure the protection of these rights that people possess (Gutzman par 8). In the declaration of independence, the unalienable rights ideas are similar to the natural rights ideas by John Locke. The declaration was inclusive of John Locke’s principles, the revolution against unjust governance like the states of social contracts.
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The declaration of independence begins by stating that when in the course of human activities and events, it becomes vital for people to get rid of political bands which have linked them together. It also calls for assuming among the powers of the earth which are the equal and separate stations to which the natural laws. It calls for the respect of mankind's opinions which require the declaration of the causes which lead them to the separation. Based on Locke
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Enlightenment Ideas in the Declaration of Independence: Critical Essay.
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