Jean-Jacques Rousseau Influence on the Declaration of...

The Declaration of Independence is the foundation of America. It contains â€Å"the words that made America,† (Fink, 9). Five of the founding fathers got together and penned this important document. As they penned this document, they were inspired by a number of European philosophers and writers. One of these philosophers was Jean-Jacques Rousseau. â€Å"Jean-Jacques Rousseau played a significant role in three different revolutions: in politics, his work inspired and shaped revolutionary sentiment in the American colonies and France; in philosophy, he proposed radically unsettling ideas about human nature, justice, and progress that disrupted the dominant Enlightenment thinking of the moment and helped to spark the Romantic movement; and in†¦show more content†¦The United States of America was established in the Enlightenment period. No other country has the imprint of this period like the United States. â€Å"The contributions of men like Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson to the founding and development of America and its ideals are inconceivable outside of an Enlightenment context,† (Staloff, 3). The ideals of liberty and equality echos the language of the Enlightenment and conveys the most intense thoughts about the political life and the rights of mankind. It was through this Enlightenment that they wrote the Declaration of Independence and founded the United States of America. Thomas Jefferson was a young delegate to the Continental Congress. He was often consider lively and vivacious among his friends, but in public, he was often soft-spoken and shy. Despite the fact that Jefferson was a quiet man, he was a scholar and skillful writer. This quiet young man was asked by John Adams to write â€Å"the first draft of the statement we know today as the Declaration of Independence—a tough job, since the writer would have to come up with a document that all thirteen colonies could accept,† (Freedman, 62). It has been said that Jefferson tried to get out of writing the first draft. Jefferson thought that Adams should be the one to write it, but Adams refused to give in to Jefferson’sShow MoreRelatedJefferson and Rousseau Influences786 Words   |  4 PagesInfluences Thomas Jefferson considers himself a contributor to the Age of Enlightenment. Through many of his writings he expands on the philosophies of the great European writers of that era - Rousseau, Locke, Hume, and Leibniz. In â€Å"The Declaration of Independence,† Jefferson directly adopts several themes found in the work of French writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Rousseau’s â€Å"The Origin of Civil Society,† provides a foundation for most of Jefferson’s ideas in â€Å"The Declaration of Independence.†Read MoreThe Influence Of The American Revolution And The Enlightenment799 Words   |  4 PagesNeither the United States Constitution, nor the Declaration of Independence, were written in an ideological vacuum. Rather, the ideas expressed by the various philosophers during the century and leading up to the American Revolution had tremendous influence over the Founders of the United States. These ideas came together in the creation of the U.S. constitution, working in tandem to lay the foundation for the way the government should be structured, as well as the core philosophy behind the countryRead MoreEnlightenment : The Age Of Enlightenment And The Enlightenment782 Words   |  4 Pagesdevelopment of the United States Government. The Declaration of Independence, Constitution Bill of rights and The Federalist Papers were all influenced by important enlightenment ideas of freedom, unavailable rights, and government. Declaration of Independence ideas such as life liberty and property, unavailable rights and inequality were all inspired by John Locke, Thomas Hobbes and, Rousseau ideas.   Thomas Jefferson (writer of the Declaration of Independence) was directly influenced by locke when heRead MoreThe Intellectual Movement of Elightment759 Words   |  3 Pagessystem that limited the power of a king and liked the idea of a government broken into different sections and that each should have some power to control the others. Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that individuals should have certain rights and just like Locke’s ideology, he believed people were good, but were corrupted by society. Rousseau also believed that no government ruled by force was good. Voltaire believed in freedom of thought and respect for all individuals just like the most of major enlightenmentRead MoreJean Jacques Rousseau s Work Essay941 Words   |  4 PagesSeptember 2015 Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in Geneva on June 28th, 1712. Those who were present had no clue that this child’s life would serve as a catalyst for philosophical and political reform. Rousseau’s writings had so much influence in the 18th century that he â€Å"played a significant role in three different revolutions† (52). In fact his work leaves a legacy so large that you can trace almost all modern revolutions back to his writings. In 1749 Rousseau competed forRead MoreLord Of The Flies Character Analysis Essay1414 Words   |  6 Pagesfrom the Declaration of Independence brought forth notion that of all of humanity is to be acknowledged as equal and are guaranteed rights of life which are to be upheld by the society in which they are apart of. A similar philosophy, along with others, is represented as characters in William Goldings novel Lord of the Flies. Jack, Ralph, and Piggy are three characters created by Golding to investigate the different principles brought forth by philosophers Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-JacquesRead MoreImpact Of Enlightenment On The French Revolution878 Words   |  4 PagesLocke and Rousseau later took up. Locke was a tremendously important political philosopher during the Enlightenment. Many of his ideas and principles were studied and adopted by the founders of America and are evident in documents like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Locke emphasized the natural freedom of human beings, the equality of all before God, natural law, and government by consent of the governed; and he justified the overthrow of government when it fails. Jean-JacquesRead MoreThe Theories And Beliefs Of The Enlightenment Era1168 Words   |  5 Pagesthis was based on the scientific and technological achievements. However, Rousseau claimed the development of civilization corrupted the natural goodness of humans. The beliefs during the age of Enlightenment were presented that we are creatures with the ability to reason and human nature is essentially good, contributing many ideas. Each Philosopher of the Enlightenment Period with very different works; Diderot, Rousseau, and Voltaire lar gely impacted and influenced the world from the EnlightenmentRead MoreThe French Revolution Vs. Bourgeois Revolution1734 Words   |  7 Pageslongstanding political instability, insurmountable economic debt and disorganization, crop shortage, little ice age, the decrease in food prices, the uncompromising nobility, aristocratic revolution, the new conquering Enlightenment ideologies especially Rousseau, and the surplus of the unsatisfied bourgeois under a weak and indecisive King. In the year 1789, the old ‘ancien regime’ snapped. The French Revolution began and continued for the next twenty-six years. Needless to say, the ideas created and perpetuatedRead MoreImpact Of The Enlightenment On Modern Political Thought1841 Words   |  8 Pagesdictator† (â€Å"Absolutism†), under King Louis XIV but ended up changing to a form of democracy (A.J. Geant). Once the French Revolution, in which the Third Estate was kicked out of the Estates General and then made Th e Tennis Court Oath and later the Declaration of the Rights of Man,  broke out due to weak leadership, France switched to a limited monarchy and democratic government. Louis XVI accepted a position as constitutional monarch, and in 1789, the National Assembly called him the â€Å"restorer of French