The Enlightenment : The Impact Of The Enlightenment In America

European Imperialism was a period of colonial expansion by European powers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The continents of Africa and Asia were two of the most imperialized areas in the world, and that greatly affected the people living there. The European Imperialism methods had a tremendous effect on the indigenous people of those areas through culture and conflicts.

European imperialism during 1450-1750, began as a plan to gain more riches for the European nations. The Europeans did this for three main reasons, which were for God, Gold, and Glory. The Europeans domination over Latin America, Africa and Asia were made out to be good for the native people of these lands. However, the Europeans were not there to help these geographic areas. They were there to spread their influence and gain riches for themselves and the European nations. The successes and failures of the Europeans and non Europeans would decide their relationship status for as long as they could co-exist.

These European nations took over land and people that weren’t rightfully theirs. Europeans did not consider the land and people they were imperializing and this caused many negative effects for the colonized nation and people. For example, Document 7 says, “They were all rapacious [greedy]; they all subserved the needs of the subject lands to their own demands; they all circumscribed [limited] human rights and liberties; they all repressed and despoiled [violated], degraded and oppressed. They took our lands, our lives, our resources, and our dignity.” This clearly shows the negative effects of imperialism and view point of the colonized people.

Within chapter four in the section "The Enlightenment in America" it expresses the emergence of the Enlightenment of America, it verifies upcoming conditions and ideas. Some of these conditions and ideas include the rights of individuals and their beliefs whether it be Deism or Theism. Many of these individuals are clustered on the subject of human existence and how it came to be, a numerous amount of significant figures such as; Copernicus, Isaac Newton, and Benjamin Franklin. Copernicus believed that the world traveled around the world and not the other way around, Isaac Newton explained in depth using science, mathematics, and physics how the planets revolved the sun, Benjamin's ideas on the religious side of human existence was Deism,

The Europeans thought it as their duty to civilize the “inferior” races by expanding western ideals. However, they did so in a vicious and grueling way where citizens were treated inhumanely. From An Anthology of West African Verse by David Diop, he entails

The Enlightenment, in many ways, shaped America to be how it is today. A few ways in which the Enlightenment affected America are in the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. Some rights that reflect Enlightenment ideas or were completely inspired by enlightenment thinkers are, “the right to bear arms”, “the right to be protected from unreasonable searches and seizures”, and “the right to enjoy a public and speedy trial by an impartial jury”. Many grievances in the Declaration of Independence are centered around the King infringing on the americans natural rights and violating the the social contract; for example, “for abolishing the free system of english laws in a neighboring province”, “he has made judges dependent on his will”, and “for cutting off our trade with other parts of the world’ for imposing taxes on us without our consent.” All of the rights and grievances above we're influenced by the Enlightenment ideas or the infringement of Enlightenment ideas.

Both the Enlightenment and the Great awakening caused the colonists to alter their views about government, the role of government, as well as society at large which ultimately and collectively helped to motivate the colonists to revolt against England. The Enlightenment was vital in almost every part of the founding of America, which included everything from government, to politics itself, as well as religion. Many of the ideas from the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening shaped our country as a whole in its seminal years, inspiring everything from the American Revolution, to the Constitution, and even electricity and stoves. Without the central ideas and figures of both the Great Awakening and the Enlightenment era, the United States

Imperialism began in in the 19th century as Europe began to force itself upon weaker countries by commandeering control of those weaker states’ economies and governments. The acquisition of these states was legitimized through creating racial divisions and encouraging stratification of the classes where the white man asserted himself as the pure and capable

The ideas of the Enlightenment are currently shown directly in our modern day society. The Enlightenment was a european movement in the late 17th century emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition. It allowed people more freedom and more opportunities. It affected today's way of living through politics because it questioned the idea of people of a community governing their community. Religion was also affected because it sought reasonable faith that many could follow and had reason. The Enlightenment did not only have an impact on politics and religion but also on economics because it denounced slavery and slave trade as well as lessened the government's control over the market. The Enlightenment has continued to be influential throughout modern times in many ways but is most present through politics, religion and economics.

There are many things that set America apart from the world. Most notably are our political structure, social structure, capitalistic ideals, and the free exchange of ideas and beliefs that were all born from the desire for freedom. After hundreds of years of being told what to do by the Church and the monarchy, there came a time when the people decided that it was time to come out from under the thumb of both, and to become something better. None of this would have been possible if The Enlightenment had not paved the way. The Enlightenment fueled formation of America and continued influencing the evolution of America in to what it is today.

England created its own failure. When Great Britain’s conquerors came to America, they tried to educate Americans under their religious beliefs. According to English, spreading their religious beliefs among the settlers was the only way to control and manipulate colonists. Years later, a few of the wealthiest Americans had the opportunity to go to Europe to have a schooling education while the rest of the population had to stay in their homeland following biblical studies. Without thinking that education could be the clue to liberate American colonies; the process of literacy continued for several years. Americans with foreign education brought European’s Enlightenments; then, those ideas were distributed among the people creating several consequences such the Common Sense pamphlet and the beginning of the Declaration of the Independence. Therefore, the Enlightenment era was the period where most of the illiterate people disappeared in America.

the claim to the Crown, and he believed that individuals held the right to revolt against a

If prompted with the question what is colonization and or how did Europe and America colonize different countries and peoples the answer might be as simple as: it was the process of taking land from other countries and pushing to change the peoples of those countries towards western ways. This answer is to simple, a lot of people do not know the motives behind colonizing another country. Even though the motives behind colonizing another country depend on the time and location of the colonizing, Europe and America have always set above every other country around the world. They title themselves as being superior to all others. Thus, a lot of countries bought into the western ways and believe Westerners to be “demigod”. In Michael Adas essay, Contested Hegemony: The Great War and the Afro-Asian Assault on the Civilizing-Mission, even though the focus is on the ups and downs of colonization in Asia and Africa. The essay looks at the motives behind colonizing these peoples, why some bought into the idea and how World War One changed everything for Europe, Asia and Africa in terms of colonization.

The Enlightenment was the root of many of the ideas of the American Revolution. It was a movement that focused mostly on freedom of speech, equality, freedom of press, and religious tolerance. The American Revolution was the time period where America tried to gain its independence from England. They got influenced very much from many philosophers. That will be discussed throughout the essay. The Enlightenment ideas were the main influences for American Colonies to become their own nation.

Colonialism, is basically where a country takes over partially or completely of a foreign land. They claimed the land as their own and begin to abuse it for their own advantage. Many restrictions in education, employment, and health benefits are imposed by the white settler to the colonized. Settlers started establishing their own homes, therefore, they impose by force their own culture upon the colonized. But, they also begin to exploit them for their own economic interests. Frantz Fanon a famous anti-colonialist thought that European colonialism had tremendously affected the indigenous societies negatively.