How Did The Enlightenment Impact Society

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The Enlightenment, which started in the 17th century in France and Britain, can be credited with many things. By the 1730s, colonists were immersed in the philosophical movement. It inspired the revolution through circulating information and easier access to this information. Newspapers spread it, colleges re-enforced it, and libraries made it accessible. John Locke wrote “Two Treaties of Government” in 1690, well before the revolution and the Declaration of Independence. Men like him pushed principles of reason, observation and experience to explain the social world. Principles of human rights and Individualism eventually changed people’s religious views also. George Whitfield, an Anglican pastor, came to tour British North America, holding