... change the way they see things and adopt their ideas. Those leaders decided it was a reasonable way to create a better society. During this enlightenment period, the most commonly heard French philosophers were John Locke, Voltaire, Adam Smith, Thomas Hobbes, Baron Montesquieu, Denis Diderot, and others. They discarded traditional beliefs and began to use reason to explain the world around them. ... believed that people could be reasonable and moral. Voltaire thought freedom of speech was the best weapon against a bad government. A few American leaders such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas J...

• Word Count: 769
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

In "Common Sense" and "The Crisis" Thomas Paine expresses his idea about individual rights, the idea of revolution and what it means to be an American. John Locke had two major ideas about individual rights; human nature is potentially good, and mankind is capable of governing themselves. Thomas Paine criticizes the governing of Americans by Great Britain ... country to another. He also shows that the British had not only failed to be a parent country to the Americans but their actions have been detrimental to Americas growth. "I have heard it asserted by some, that as America has flourished...

• Word Count: 906
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: Undergraduate