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Enlightenment in England and America
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Detailed comparison between the Enlightenment in England and America.
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Alexandria UniversityThe Manifestations of The Enlightenment in England and America
Dannah Eissa
Mariam Mostafa
Maryam Salah
Western Civilization II
Dr. Rasha El Karaksy
26 March 2022
, 2
The Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason, was a turning point in the history of the
West. Not only did it drastically change the course of Western life, thought, and beliefs in
Europe, but it also led to America’s Great Awakening. Even though the manifestations of
the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening might have differed in several aspects, the
core of their advocacy remained the same. Their similarities paved the way for the
American and French Revolutions and later on, the Declaration of Independence.
The Enlightenment was a political and social movement that took place in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in Europe. The movement later spread to America
adopting a different form and title. It liberated people from all sorts of restraints, making
them realize they had it within them to think and act independently, rather than blindly
follow the authorities’ directions. Owing to the Enlightenment movement, people’s
mindsets have changed into a more independent and open one; they have come to realize
that the Catholic doctrine was assailable. Enlightenment thinkers and philosophers, such
as Locke, preached for the separation of Church and State, since granting the Church
orthodoxy and taking the King for God’s successor on Earth has led to nothing but
atrocities and bloody religious wars. As a result, the Age of Reason witnessed a radical
political revolution.
In an age that seemed to advocate for equal rights for all, all credit was given to
men, leaving women behind marginalized. Nevertheless, in Mary Wollstonecraft’s A
Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), women’s right to education was issued. She
argued that the educational systems of her time trained women to be incapable. However,
an educational system that allowed girls the same advantages as boys would result in
women who would not only make exceptional wives and mothers, but also capable
workers in numerous professions.
Science and the Enlightenment were two sides of the same coin; one happened
right after the other hugely influencing it. During that time, people realized that
education, knowledge, and the domination of reason were the only means of evolution
and advancement. The Enlightenment helped change social thought to be secular-based
and allowed the average person to learn and discover more without the help of the church
or any religious authority. In addition to Newton’s then groundbreaking discovery of
gravity, Immanuel Kant’s claim that the human mind is a world within itself that shapes
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