What is Enlightenment, well it happened in the 18th century. It was a European movement in which thinkers such as John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, and others attempted to apply the principles of reason and the scientific method to all aspects of society. John Locke thought people could reason, therefore they had the ability to govern themselves. The Enlightenment started because people began to realize that they could think for themselves and that monarchy was not the type of government they wanted. This was the start of democracy.
The 18th century was a time of change; people were starting to realize they were born with three natural rights Life, Liberty, and Property. Europe's idea of right to govern before the enlightenment was, a monarch's rule is justified by divine rights, meaning a monarch is god's representative on earth and therefore only answers to god. Also before the enlightenment there were few individual rights. The new idea on rights was the government's power comes from......

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Title: Enlightenment Essay
Approximate Word Count: 657
Approximate Pages: 3 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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