How did the Age of Enlightenment affect the American colonists?
The Age of Enlightenment produced new philosophies about the rights of man and the obligations of governments. Many philosophers like Locke and Hobbes began to question the idea of the divine right of kings and monarchy in general. They and others began to realize that persons in charge of ruling others were there to ensure that the governed were taken care of, not that the people governed existed just to take care of the monarch. Locke and Hobbes had great influence on men like Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams and especially Thomas Paine. Many of these enlightened ideas had already taken root in the colonists minds and many no longer had the notion that the king could not be contradicted just because he was the king. These new principles led the colonists to resent the stifling actions King George III took against them and, no longer being in awe of a king, determined to break free of his authority over them. Much of the new philosphy is set forth in the Declaration of In
