The American Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was an eighteenth century European intellectual movement that had a profound impact on prominent thinkers in late Colonial America, including many of those who were leaders of the American Revolution. Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Paine were three American Founding Fathers who looked up to John Locke and Isaac Newton and sought to put their theories into practice. Jefferson was heavily indebted to John Locke for the ideas of Natural Rights expressed in the Declaration of Independence.

This video should be helpful for US History students of all ages and especially great for AP US History.