Minds on Fire: Enlightenment, Awakening, and Empire in Colonial America

What happens when bold ideas cross an ocean and collide with a volatile world? In this episode, we trace John Locke’s natural rights and Montesquieu’s separation of powers as they meet colonial realities—of indentured servitude, the Middle Passage, and the Stono Rebellion; of tobacco, rice, and merchant trade; of print shops buzzing with debate and pulpits alive with revival. From Enlightenment reason to evangelical fervor, from Scots-Irish migrations to the Seven Years’ War, these forces reshaped British America—setting the stage for rebellion long before 1776.