The effect on Enlightenment ideals on the development and growth of the American government.

The United States of America is a relatively young country compared to most of the world. It has only been habited for a little less than 400 hundred years and has been unified as we know it today for 230. The vast majority of this country's population has ancestors who immigrated to the US long ago. These people brought many ideas with them, and the knowledge of European philosophers. This was even before the Revolutionary War and …

…The intellectual values of our society today are mainly based upon the teaching of the philosophers during the Enlightenment. The impact of the philosophers during the Enlightenment is undeniable in our American culture and society today. Although some American values have not been influenced, our political and intellectual values have been thoroughly impacted by those philosophers who lived centuries ago. The mark that they have made can be clearly seen today in all of America.