In the late eighteenth century many people changed their mind about what made authority legitimate. Rather than basing political authority on divine right, some advocated new ideas about how the right to rule was bestowed. Many Enlightenment thinkers wanted broader participation in government and leaders who were more responsive to their people. This led to rebellions and independence movements against existing governments and the formation of new nations around the world. No longer content to be subjects of a king, new forms of group identity were formed around concepts such as culture, religion, shared history and race. Colonized people developed identities separate from the European societies from which they emerged.
I. The rise and diffusion of Enlightenment thought that questioned established traditions in all areas of life often preceded the revolutions and rebellions against existing governments.
A. During the previous era (1450-1750) a trend in western Europe began in which individuals felt more at ease in challenging established authorities on matters of culture, science and religion. The new method of understanding the world began with one's direct observations or experience, organizing the data of that experience, and only then developing an idea about how things are. In a movement known as the Enlightenment, European intellectuals applied these methods to human relationships around them. They did not hesitate to question assumptions about government and society that had gone unquestioned for centuries. Dismissing all inherited beliefs about social class and religion, they began from direct experience and asked why things had to be the way they were.
B. Since the middle ages, religion formed the basis of most every aspect of life in Europe. The Church sanctioned a hierarchical class system, supported the divine right of kings, and claimed to be the supreme authority on all knowledge claims. It did so by claiming to be the custodians of divine revelations which formed the basis of all that was true and were taken without question. During the Enlightenment, thinkers doubted the church's claim to possess a source of divinely revealed absolute truth. They instead emphasized the capacity of human reason and experience to arrive at knowledge. They despised all dogma--the belief in propositions given by authorities which are not open to be challenged or examined for one's self--and waged war against intolerance. In this regard, the most prominent figure is the French philosopher Voltaire. After wars of religion and the intolerance Catholics and Protestants demonstrated toward each other, Voltaire sought to destroy dogma and struggle against the power of the Catholic Church in European society.
C. The most profound influence of the Enlightenment was in political thought. New and radical ideas emanated from philosophers that challenged accepted notions of power. The English philosopher John Locke believed that all knowledge arises through experience, a belief that implies that experience rather than birth makes individuals who they are, an idea that challenged the class system of Europe. He went on to argue that every individual has inalienable rights--rights that cannot be taken away without a grievous violation of natural law. For Locke, the most fundamental inalienable rights were life, liberty, and the right to own property. The French philosopher Rousseau argued that the relationship between a government and its people was similar to a contract. This assumes that both parties are on equal footing and either side could violate the contract. Another English philosopher named Thomas Hobbes said that the only legitimate role of a government was to protect people from each other and anything beyond that was oppressive. The French philosopher Montesquieu also argued for a limited government. He believed the best way to limit the power of a government was to divide its most fundamental powers--the power to make laws, execute laws, and interpret laws in specific instances-- should be separated into three distinct locations of the government. This had a strong influence on the American system of dividing government into legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government with checks and balances between them. The net effect of all these philosophers was to deny the legitimacy of a government that with absolute power supported by religion rather than the general will of the people. The philosophers of the Enlightenment
