Defining characteristic of the American enlightenment

Although there is no consensus about the exact span of time that corresponds to the American Enlightenment, it is safe to say that it occurred during the eighteenth century among thinkers in British North America and the early United States and was inspired by the ideas of the British and French Enlightenments.  Based on the metaphor of bringing light to the Dark Age, the Age of the Enlightenment (Siècle des lumières in French and Aufklärung in German) shifted allegiances away from absolute authority, whether religious or political, to more skeptical and optimistic attitudes about human nature, religion and politics.  In the American context, thinkers such as Thomas Paine, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and Benjamin Franklin invented and adopted revolutionary ideas about scientific rationality, religious toleration and experimental political organization—ideas that would have far-reaching effects on the development of the fledgling nation.  Some coupled science and religion in the notion of deism; others asserted the natural rights of man in the anti-authoritarian doctrine of liberalism; and still others touted the importance of cultivating virtue, enlightened leadership and community in early forms of republican thinking. At least six ideas came to punctuate American Enlightenment thinking: deism, liberalism, republicanism, conservatism, toleration and scientific progress. Many of these were shared with European Enlightenment thinkers, but in some instances took a uniquely American form.

no

explanation:

not everyone in america is free. it is has always been a unequal society. and yet people come in swarms, in search of better lives. some are brought as children, unaware, unknowing. some arrive and just don’t leave. they build lives, pay taxes, raise families. some enter illegally, fleeing persecution in their home country.

there are many reasons why human beings are so attracted to america, despite its history of bitterness towards immigrants.

there are almost two million immigrants brought to the us when they were children. president donald trump and his collaborators are determined to rid the us of as many undocumented immigrants as they can, and stop others from coming because none of their ancestors were immigrants.

america has so many things and yet it lacks the one thing that humanity needs to fully thrive. and so this country will not be at peace in itself until it resolves the pain at the heart of slavery, attacking immigrants, and crumble the rights of those with less power.

adopted the practice of proskynesis, a persian court custom that involved bowing down and kissing the hand of others, depending on their rank.