Out of the Dark Ages and into the Enlightenment or Say you want a revolution or Do I really want to be a secular boy in a religious world
An Integrated, Interdisciplinary, Thematic, Standards-based Unit on the rise of democracy that led to revolutions across the world The Enlightenment ideas born in Europe spread to America and influenced the colonial intelligencia. When England's mismanagement of her colonies caused the American merchant class to seek independence the large land owners coalesced the ideas from John Locke, Rousseau and Voltaire, among others to form the world's first modern democracy. A new type of government without a monarch and no state religion was formed. The American Revolution and US Constitution inspired several revolutionary movements around the world such as the 1789 French revolution.
The secular thinking that influenced the intelligencia of the late 1700s influenced several important figurers to adopt Deism. People such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Thomas Paine rejected Christianity and looked towards law as the inspiring force to base morality and governmental standards. This new religious outlook influenced the American colonies to adopt a government devoid of religious affiliation and provided religious freedom for all faiths or lake of faith.
Students need to appreciate the roots of American democracy and how it has evolved over time to live up to its initial principles and how certain groups have attempted to subvert the sanctity of freedom of and from religion, the right to free speech and association.
The secular thinking that influenced the intelligencia of the late 1700s influenced several important figurers to adopt Deism. People such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Thomas Paine rejected Christianity and looked towards law as the inspiring force to base morality and governmental standards. This new religious outlook influenced the American colonies to adopt a government devoid of religious affiliation and provided religious freedom for all faiths or lake of faith.
Students need to appreciate the roots of American democracy and how it has evolved over time to live up to its initial principles and how certain groups have attempted to subvert the sanctity of freedom of and from religion, the right to free speech and association.