John Locke, Voltaire, And Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The Age of Enlightenment spanned from the Middle 18th century and on to the French Revolution. It is defined as the time when thinkers emerged believing in shedding the light of science and reason on the world in order to question traditional ideas and ways of society’s norms and established hierarchies. Many philosophers presented many theories and beliefs to form questions in the minds of people. These questions entertained elites and aristocrats to pass by the time. Eventually these thinking games evolved into more serious ideas emerged and began challenging those in power. Enlightenment thinkers created many concepts to question the status of the royals and gaining the fear of the upper class, afraid that it would lead to social chaos, and ultimately result
Discussions brought up by thinkers such as John Locke, Voltaire, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau encouraged the political revolutionaries in the development of the birth of the rights of a man, beliefs of equality, freedoms, and liberalism. Along with it came the arrival of the “self-made” man, referring to the embracing of liberty of the individual and accepting radical views, creating another conflict with the values upheld by the monarchy.
It is believed that it is these same ideologies that led to multiple revolts around the world, especially in Europe, a continent composed of multiple kingdoms and governments based on feudalism. The seeds of these thoughts and beliefs slowly took root in the minds of the peasants everywhere, especially France. It is worth noting that France was not a poor country when compared to the other kingdoms of Europe, in fact, despite being heavy in