ABSTRACT
The Enlightenment ushered in an age of Atlantic revolutions that was closely linked to the increasing doubt about traditional modes of human society and culture. From a political perspective, among the most important in the seventeenth century were two successful European revolutions in the Netherlands and England, both of which included a strongly religious component. The Dutch were so successful during the seventeenth century that they were both emulated and resented. England was the country that was to profit the most by the Dutch example, overtaking Holland to dominate Atlantic trade during the eighteenth century and eventually taking control over the largest empire in history. Of all the Atlantic revolutions, the French Revolution was the most deeply affected by the ideals of the Enlightenment, which strongly influenced its character. Like all revolutions, the American Revolution stemmed from long-term underlying causes but required immediate political events to set it in motion.
