Final answer:
Key figures during the Enlightenment, such as Thomas Paine, John Locke, and other philosophers, provided the foundational ideas of human rights and government responsibility that propelled American colonists toward declaring independence from British rule.
Step-by-step explanation:
Influential Figures and Ideas of the Enlightenment in America
The Enlightenment period was marked by the emergence of new philosophical ideas about the rights of man and the relationship between citizens and government. Notable figures such as John Locke contributed significantly to the political philosophy that influenced the American Revolution. In America, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson were among the Founding Fathers who embraced these ideals. Specifically, Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense articulated the practical and principled case for independence, arguing against the hereditary monarchy and highlighting the British government's failure to fulfill its duties to the colonists.
Philosophers like Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Montesquieu all had an influence on the American thought-leaders, reinforcing the idea that people have natural rights which a government must protect. These Enlightenment principles provided the moral justification for revolution and the notion that the colonies had the right to establish a government complimentary to their values and needs. The Enlightenment also instilled a cautiousness towards institutionalized authority among the American educated elite and promoted intellectual freedom.
With the confluence of revolutionary thought and the oppressive actions of the British government, the colonists were compelled towards declaring independence, aiming to establish a new form of governance informed by Enlightenment values.