Jean-Jacques Rousseau was an important force in the philosophical thought of the eighteenth century. He was an especially powerful influence in the development of educational theory and was one of the primary sources for the political theory that would infuse the age of revolution, notably the American and French Revolutions. After Rousseau and writers such as John Locke, David Hume, and Thomas Hobbes, the sovereign was no longer seen as ruling by divine right. He or she did have to answer to the people, and both the people and the sovereign had to behave in accordance with the law. That law would then be the touchstone for the sovereign to determine how to govern. These are standing laws--they are not developed at the whim of the sovereign to cope with each situation that arises. They are also to be "known to the people," which means that they are not to be secret and are instead to be known so the people can determine whether the sovereign is living up to these laws or not. The sovereign hereafter serves at their sufferance. The American Revolution was a response to excessive control from a distant sovereign. The French Revolution was effected when a people reached the end of their sufferance of a monarchy and aristocracy seen as corrupt and self-serving rather than as serving the needs of the people. The political philosophy of Rousseau was an important element in French revolutionary thought. It seems to have been much less important in the American instance, and certain of the Founding Fathers--notably John Adams and John Quincy Adams--ridiculed his writings.
Rousseau's thought developed from the events of his life, and he himself indicated how important life experiences were in the educational development of the individual, as he noted that
. . . the character and outlook of any one of us is largely the result of the influence which parents, other relatives, teachers, and circumstances have brought to bear upo...