Final answer:
The term that completes the sentence is 'Enlightenment.' It was a period that emphasized reason and science, profoundly affecting the ideological foundations of America.
Step-by-step explanation:
America's founders were children of the Enlightenment, an age of reason. The Enlightenment, or the Age of Reason, was an intellectual and cultural movement in the eighteenth century that emphasized reason over superstition and science over blind faith. Thinkers such as John Locke, Isaac Newton, and Voltaire championed ideas of openness, investigation, and religious tolerance, influencing the cultural and political landscapes of Europe and the Americas. The Enlightenment is thus considered a significant epoch in Western civilization.