[henry_thefirst]

No, I'm afraid you are mistaken. Read John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Voltaire, and then you will see why "some very simple concepts never before uttered until 1776" is a grossly inaccurate statement. America, the concept, the theory, is a direct product of the European enlightenment.

[oldbill]

Nice try, but illogical.

If it's the "European enlightenment", then it's not exclusively Anglo, the postulated premise in this article. Them other guys sure sound French to me. Guess you're now saying it's the Franco Rule?

And sorry, but the American experiment was the first implementation of those concepts in a government. All them other guys just sat around theorizing. Government of the people, by the people, and for the people was a purely American invention.

[elbucko]

America, the concept, the theory, is a direct product of the European enlightenment.

Correction, the Scottish Enlightenment.

[muawiyah]

Actually, America is more like the extension of privilege beyond the noble classes into the commons.

The noble classes acquired "rights" "way back when".