The Enlightenment (1650–1800): The Legacy of the Enlightenment

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Although many of these misguided Enlightenment scientists believed that their methods could work, many were charlatans who knew exactly what they were doing. The world was wide-eyed and eager for new knowledge and, as of yet, lacked the fact-checking capabilities to separate real discoveries from pure deception.

The American Revolution

Across the Atlantic, the Enlightenment had a profound impact on the English colonies in America and ultimately on the infant nation of the United States. The colonial city of Philadelphia emerged as a chic, intellectual hub of American life, strongly influenced by European thought. Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790) was the consummate philosophe: a brilliant diplomat, journalist, and scientist who traveled back and forth between Europe and America, acting as a conduit of ideas between them. He played a pivotal role in the American Revolution, which began in 1775, and the subsequent establishment of a democratic government under the Thomas Jefferson–penned Declaration of Independence (1776).

The political writer Thomas Paine (1737–1809) also brought Enlightenment ideas to bear on the American Revolution. An Englishman who immigrated to America, Paine was inspired by America and wrote the political pamphlet Common Sense (1776), which encouraged the secession of the colonies from England. Later in his life, Paine’s religious views and caustic demeanor alienated him from much of the public, and he died in somewhat ill repute.

In many ways, the new United States was the Enlightenment, for its leaders could actually implement many of the ideas that European philosophers could only talk idly about. Americans were exposed to, and contributed to, the leading works of science, law, politics, and social order, yet lacked the traditions and conservatism that impeded the European countries from truly changing their ways. Indeed, the Declaration of Independence borrows heavily from Enlightenment themes—even taking passages from Locke and Rousseau—and the U.S. Constitution implements almost verbatim Locke and Montesquieu’s ideas of separation of power. America was founded as a deist country, giving credit to some manner of natural God yet allowing diverse religious expression, and also continued in the social and industrial veins that were begun in Europe.

The French Revolution

Just a decade after the revolution in America, France followed suit, with the French Revolution,which began in 1789. Empowered by the political philosophies of the Enlightenment, the French citizenry overthrew the monarchy of Louis XVI and established a representative government that was directly inspired by Enlightenment thought. This harmonious arrangement, however, soon fell prey to internal dissent, and leadership changed hands throughout the years that followed. The instability reached a violent climax with the ascent of Maximilien Robespierre, an extremist who plunged the revolution into the so-called Reign of Terror of 1793–1794, beheading more than 15,000 suspected enemies and dissenters at the guillotine. (For more information, see the History SparkNote The French Revolution.)

Distraught Frenchmen and other Europeans reacted to the tyranny of the Reign of Terror, as well as subsequent oppressive governments in France, by blaming the Enlightenment. These critics claimed that the Enlightenment’s attacks on tradition and questioning of norms would always lead inevitably to instability. Moreover, many critics in the nobility saw the violence of the Reign of Terror as proof positive that the masses, however “enlightened,” could never be trusted to govern themselves in an orderly fashion. Indeed, most historians agree that the French Revolution effectively marked the end of the Enlightenment. France itself reacted against the violence of the revolution by reverting to a military dictatorship under Napoleon that lasted fifteen years.