when the enlightenment period
American Enlightenment. The American Enlightenment was a period of intellectual ferment in the thirteen American colonies in the period 1714â1818, which led to the American Revolution, and the creation of the American Republic. The American Enlightenment was influenced by the 18th-century European Enlightenment and its own native American philosophy. It applied scientific reasoning to politics, science, and religion. It promoted religious tolerance.