Roots of Freedom: The Enlightenment

The principles from the Enlightenment are the major influences for the Experiment in self rule, that found expression in America. Enlightenment thought was The Major Influence in the founding of America. Jefferson, Paine, Franklin, & almost all of the founders were products of the Enlightenment, & were active, enthusiastic contributors to it.

What is the 'Enlightenment'?

It was an era, primarily during the 17th century, that celebrated reason, science, human freedom, & ideals of governance. Many great thinkers were alive during this time, that continue to provide the basis for our modern ideas of freedom.

IMO, the Enlightenment could be summarized by Locke's words about Natural Law, which was The Key part of Enlightenment thought.



Life, Liberty, Property. These were the inherent, Natural Rights of every human being, that any collective system SHOULD protect & defend. Jefferson echoed this in the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government..

The American Founders echoed Enlightenment thought constantly, & are clearly influenced, and products of this philosophical thinking.
Here are some key principles that were products of the enlightenment:

1. Acknowledgment of Natural Law. There exists in the Universe an inherent, natural right in every human, to their life, liberties, & property.
2. Acknowledgment of God/Deity/Nature. Some were devout christians, some deists, some skeptics, some unknown.. but all echoed the concept of a higher, Natural Law that superseded the decrees of man.
3. Govt was to secure & protect the rights of the people. That was its sole reason for existence.
4. Revolution & defiance toward despotism was a right, or even a duty, for the freeman.
5. Reason, not the decrees or dogmas of man, was the Authority, & took precedence over man made decrees.

"In all ages of the world, priests have been enemies of liberty." ~David Hume 1711 - 1776

Continuing what started in the Reformation, the rebellion to self proclaimed representatives of God was a constant theme during the Enlightenment. Thinking people threw off the dogma of religious decrees, & looked to reason, science, & common sense to replace the folly of the State Centered institutions that promoted the status quo.

But this was not an 'anti-God!' movement.. on the contrary, continuing the principles from the Reformation, many esteemed God, spirituality, & reverent living. They opposed the INSTITUTIONS of man, as being anti-God, & saw True Piety in the individual expression of reason. There were many anti or non Christian thinkers, but they opposed the Man centered expression, not the basic principles within christianity.

Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear. ~Thomas Jefferson

"The existence of the BIBLE, as a book for the people, is the greatest benefit which the human race has ever experienced. Every attempt to belittle it is a crime against humanity" ~Immanuel Kant

I will confess that the majesty of the Scriptures strikes me with admiration, as the purity of the gospel has its influence on my heart. Peruse the works of our philosophers, with all their pomp of diction: how contemptible are they, compared with the Scriptures! Is it possible that a book at once so simple and so sublime should be merely the work of man? Is it possible that the sacred personage whose name it records should be himself a mere man? What sweetness, what purity, in his manner! What sublimity in his maxims! What profound wisdom in his discourses! Where is the man, where the philosopher, who could so live and so die without weakness and without ostentation? If the life and death of Socrates were those of a sage, the life and death of Jesus were those of a God. ~Jean Jacques Rousseau

Montesquieu was instrumental in influencing the 'separation of powers' that was codified in the American Constitution.

When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty; because apprehensions may arise, lest the same monarch or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical manner. ~Baron de Montesquieu

Truly the Roots of American Freedom were based on the principles & philosophies of the Enlightenment. And to the degree we abandon those principles, we kill the experiment in self rule that the founders & the Enlightenment thinkers produced. We may move on to other, more ear tingling ideas, but we will not match the ideals of Freedom that were produced during the Enlightenment.

Enlightenment is man’s leaving his self-caused immaturity. Immaturity is the incapacity to use one's intelligence without the guidance of another. Such immaturity is self-caused if it is not caused by lack of intelligence, but by lack of determination and courage to use one's intelligence without being guided by another. Sapere Aude! Have the courage to use your own intelligence! is therefore the motto of the enlightenment... ~Immanuel Kant

Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws in the first place. ~Frederic Bastiat

Government has no other end, but the preservation of property. ~John Locke

The true Enlightenment thinker, the true rationalist, never wants to talk anyone into anything. No, he does not even want to convince; all the time he is aware that he may be wrong. Above all, he values the intellectual independence of others too highly to want to convince them in important matters. He would much rather invite contradiction, preferably in the form of rational and disciplined criticism. He seeks not to convince but to arouse - to challenge others to form free opinions. ~Karl Popper