Enlightenment Ideals

Here is a website with a great amount of information on the whole Mexican Independence movement. http://www.teacherlink.usu.edu/tlresources/units/Byrnes-celebrations/mid.html. There is a great section on the Enlightenment values that infleunced their independence movement. That section somewhat defines the Enlightenment. Back at that time Mexican history education revolved around theology and most people had to survive with that. The Catholic Church dominated almost every aspect of life back then. Mexicans wanted to limit that power so that they could have some control. Science and reason were some of the dominating principles of the Enlightenment. People began to believe that they could improve their social status instead of being stuck whereever they were. This website helped me understand a lot better as to why the Enlightenment was so important why was it such a turning point in human history?