The Enlightenment Era

The Enlightenment era, took place during the eighteenth century, the time of people questioning the primary source and legitimacy for authority. The Enlightenment is held to be the source of important ideas, such as the centrality of freedom, democracy and reason as primary values in society.   Both French and American Revolution share same idea that the government should protect citizen’s abilities to pursue their own opportunity to live their lives and have liberty to choose how to live and accumulate property.

A leading cause of social stress in France during the Revolution was its large population. As population increase, disease and acute food shortages diminished and mortality declined to decrease. Another leading cause of revolution was the poor management of Louis XVI; he let the people starved to death. A man, John Locke, stood up and questions the monarch. He believed that the state built upon the consent of the people. He also believed that government derived from an agreement between men to give up life in the state of nature in favor of life in a political or civil society. Locke’s emphasis on a social contract that protected natural right: life, liberty, and estate (or property). In courage of Locke, another man fought against inequality in government, his name Maximilien Robespierre. He assembled a committee to put the law of freedom for all the people in writing so no one could change called Declaration of Rights and Duties of Man and Citizen.

The US Constitution, was adopted on September 17, 1787, share ideas from the Declaration of Rights and Duties of Man and Citizen; it is a contract between the government and its citizen. The purpose of US Constitution is to limit and restrict power government for the good of the society and government’ power should come from the people consent. It also written that all people should have equal, it means that all people have the opportunity to be whatever they want to be it called Bill of Rights....