id author title date pages extension mime words sentences flesch summary cache txt en-wikipedia-org-2193 Age of Enlightenment - Wikipedia .html text/html 24473 2487 59 European rulers such as Catherine II of Russia, Joseph II of Austria and Frederick II of Prussia tried to apply Enlightenment thought on religious and political tolerance, which became known as enlightened absolutism.[12] Many of the main political and intellectual figures behind the American Revolution associated themselves closely with the Enlightenment: Benjamin Franklin visited Europe repeatedly and contributed actively to the scientific and political debates there and brought the newest ideas back to Philadelphia; Thomas Jefferson closely followed European ideas and later incorporated some of the ideals of the Enlightenment into the Declaration of Independence; and James Madison incorporated these ideals into the United States Constitution during its framing in 1787.[14] The ideas of the Enlightenment also played a major role in inspiring the French Revolution, which began in 1789. ./cache/en-wikipedia-org-2193.html ./txt/en-wikipedia-org-2193.txt