Before the American Revolution, most people around the world were subjects of kings, queens, or emperors. Ordinary people had little power or influence, and governments existed because of tradition, family lineage, religion, force, or some combination of those factors. The idea of citizens forming a new government where the ultimate power lay with the people themselves was a truly radical idea. In this context, the concept of a democratic republic based on self government (or government by consent) was revolutionary.

The Enlightenment which took place during the late 17th and the 18th centuries began to challenge these longstanding political systems. Thinkers such as John Locke, Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau argued that government should be grounded in reason, natural rights (including unalienable rights), and the consent of the governed. They also emphasized the separation of powers to guard against tyranny, the principle of equality to affirm the rights of all, and the importance of union to sustain a just, stable, and harmonious society - even though, in practice, those rights were not extended to everyone. At the heart of these ideas were the promises of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But most importantly, these thinkers believed that all governmental power is derived from the people (as Alexander Hamilton put it in Federalist No. 1, their “reflection and choice”), not from God, not from family, and not from force.

These Enlightenment writings traveled across the Atlantic during the 18th century, inspiring colonists to question monarchy itself. Set against a world dominated by kings and empires, the American Revolution marked a daring attempt to build a government created by and for the people. These key principles would echo powerfully later in the fledgling country’s Constitution (and in individual state constitutions) and became the most important ideas or values that form the foundation of the United States of America.