Question

1. how did the enlightenment and american revolution change the way people viewed their relationship to their rulers? answer:

Explanation:

The Enlightenment introduced ideas like popular sovereignty (from Rousseau), social contract (Hobbes, Locke), and natural rights (Locke: life, liberty, property). These challenged the "divine right of kings" (rulers' authority from God). The American Revolution, with its Declaration of Independence (echoing Locke’s ideas, claiming rights to "alter or abolish" unjust government) and successful overthrow of British rule, showed people could reject tyrannical rulers. Post - Revolution, the US Constitution (with checks/balances, representative government) demonstrated a new model: rulers derive power from the people, not divine mandate. So people shifted from viewing rulers as divinely - ordained, unchallengeable authorities to seeing themselves as having the right to consent to governance, resist tyranny, and hold rulers accountable.

Answer:

The Enlightenment introduced ideas like the social contract (rulers’ power from people’s consent, not divine right), natural rights, and popular sovereignty. The American Revolution (via the Declaration of Independence, which claimed the right to overthrow unjust rule, and the new US government structure) demonstrated these ideas in practice. People began to view rulers not as divinely - ordained, unchallengeable authorities, but as those who derived power from the people, and whom the people could hold accountable, resist, or replace if they violated natural rights or acted tyrannically.