The Age of Enlightenment that overtook Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries has lasting impacts, both in Europe and in the colonies and young countries being established around the world. The Enlightenment was led by many notable philosophers who created a base set of ideas that would lead the movement. Some of these ideas that were promoted outside of Europe were ideas such as the people of a country have the right to overthrow a government that is no longer for them, all humans are equal, no matter race, gender, or social class, and, possibly most famously, that all people have certain, unalienable rights, that cannot be taken away by any other person. These ideas were spread throughout the world and became cornerstones for new countries, even appearing in Constitutions and Declarations of Independence.

The United States Declaration of Independence, written in 1776 to declare the independence of the American Colonies from the British Crown, started by saying “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” This is a primary Enlightenment idea, edited from the Enlightenment philosopher John Locke when he wrote “All people have “natural rights” of life, liberty and property. Government was to protect these, if it didn’t overthrow it.” In keeping with Locke’s statement, the colonists had decided the British Government was no longer protecting their “unalienable” rights and were separating from it to form their own country. In Europe, the ideas of the Enlightenment were being used as an argument for the rights for minority or suppressed groups, such as women. The French Declaration of Rights for Women states “Liberty and Justice consist of restoring the rights of others; since the exercise of the rights of women has no limits other than those imposed by perpetual male tyranny, these limits must be made to conform to natural law and reason.” While this passage also makes an argument for equality between genders, something that was very much looked down on at the time by the French government, it also challenges the Enlightenment idea of every person having equal, unalienable rights by asking if women in this scenario are counted as people.

A possibly not-so-popular Enlightenment idea was the idea that all men are created equal. Regardless of the fact it ended up in the opening lines of the American Declaration of Independence – “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” – many minority and suppressed groups began to use this idea to promote equality for themselves. In the Social Contract, written by the Enlightenment philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau, the idea is laid out when considering the practice of slavery. “So, from whatever aspect we regard the question, the right of slavery is null and void, not only as being illegitimate, but also because it is absurd and meaningless. The words slave and right contradict each other, and are mutually exclusive. It will always be equally foolish for a man to say to a man or to a people: “I make with you a convention wholly at your expense and wholly to my advantage; I shall keep it as long as I like, and you will keep it as long as I like.” At this point in history, slavery was still a common practice world-wide – the Social Contract was written in 1762. Slavery wouldn’t be abolished in Rousseau’s home country of France until 1794, and it would be another 80 years before it was abolished in the United States. A few years after The Social Contract was published, the American colonies separated from British rule and began forming their own government. Abigail Adams, wife of founding father John Adams, wrote to her husband while he worked to help create that new government, and urged him to “remember the ladies”. Abigail Adams spent much of her life fighting for women’s rights and equality. In one of her letters to her husband, she wrote “I long to hear that you have declared an independency – and by the way in the new Code of Laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If perticuliar care and attention is not paid to the Ladies we are determined to foment a Rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.” In another letter, after her husband writes she should be patient and that “We know better than to repeal our Masculine systems,” she responds “…I can not say that I think you very generous to the Ladies, for whilst you are proclaiming peace and good will to men, Emancipating all Nations, you insist upon retaining an absolute power over Wives. But you must remember that Arbitary power is like most other things which are very hard, very liable to be broken – and notwithstanding all your wise Laws and Maxims we have it in our power not only to free ourselves but to subdue our Masters, and without violence throw both your natural and legal authority at our feet…” In her letters, Abigail Adams pushed for the equality of women in the new country, and also drew from the other Enlightenment idea of overthrowing a government that isn’t helping its people – she reminds John Adams that, if women aren’t happy with the new government, they have the ability to overthrow it and create a new one for themselves.

A major Enlightenment idea that appears all over the world, especially during the Age of Revolution, is the idea that, if a government is no longer working in the best interests of the people it serves, then said people have the right to overthrow it and replace it with a better government. During the Age of Revolution, many colonies overthrew their conquering governments to create their own independent countries, and large countries, namely France, overthrew their aristocratic governments for ones that would better represent the people of that country. In the United States Declaration of Independence, it’s stated that “… to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.” The United States Declaration of Independence was written mainly to list all the reasons the colonies were separating from the British Crown – it’s essentially the second-most famous breakup letter in history, just after the complete works of Taylor Swift. They’re not the only colony to send a letter to the main country listing their grievances, either. Toussaint L’Ouverture, leader of the Saint-Domingue slave revolt that led to the establishment of Haiti as an official country, wrote a letter to the French government in 1797 titled “Letter to the Directory”. In it, he wrote, “I swear it by all that liberty holds most sacred. My attachment to France, my knowledge of the blacks, make it my duty not to leave you ignorant either of the crimes which they meditate or the oath that we renew, to bury ourselves under the ruins of a country revived by liberty rather than suffer the return of slavery. It is for you, Citizens Directors, to turn from over our heads the storm which the eternal enemies of our liberty are preparing in the shades of silence. It is for you to enlighten the legislature, it is for you to prevent the enemies of the present system from spreading themselves on our unfortunate shores to sully it with new crimes.” The slave revolt in Saint-Domingue was ultimately successful in throwing off French rule, proving that even a country of people that weren’t considered citizens by their owners can be successful in overthrowing a bad government. A similar thought of rather being killed in revolt than continuing to exist in slavery was professed by Simon Bolivar in his ‘Reply of a South American to a Gentleman of This Island’ in 1815. He wrote “At present the contrary attitude persists: we are threatened with the fear of death, dishonor, and every harm; there is nothing we have not suffered at the hands of that unnatural stepmother – Spain. The veil has been torn asunder. We have already seen the light, and it is not our desire to be thrust back into darkness. The chains have been broken; we have been freed, and now our enemies seek to enslave us anew.” 

While the Age of Enlightenment may have started in Europe, it’s ideas spread all across the world. The ideas that the people of a country have the right to overthrow a government that is no longer for them, all humans are equal, no matter race, gender, or social class, and, possibly most famously, that all people have certain, unalienable rights, that cannot be taken away by any other person became the building blocks for new and developing countries world-wide, even being added to their Constitutions and Declarations of Independence. Although these ideas may have been used differently than their original thinkers might have meant, they influenced nations world-wide and are still apparent and relevant today.