chapter 17 pp. 542-569 from prentice-hall world history (2007) the enlightenment

C H A P T E R 1 7 P P. 5 4 2 - 5 6 9 F R O M P R E N T I C E - H A L L W O R L D H I S T O R Y ( 2 0 0 7 )

THE ENLIGHTENMENT

Background to the Revolution Medieval scientists, known as “natural

philosophers,” did not make observations of the world and nature so much as rely on ancient authorities, especially Aristotle, for their scientific knowledge.

Click the mouse button or press theSpace Bar to display the information.Click the mouse button or press the

Space Bar to display the information.

Changes in the 1400s and 1500s caused European scientists to adopt new views and methods.

(pages 511–512)

(pages 511–512)



Background to the Revolution (cont.) Renaissance humanists studied the newly

discovered works of Ptolemy, Archimedes, Plato, and other ancient thinkers.

They learned that some ancient thinkers had disagreed with Aristotle and other accepted authorities.

(pages 511–512)

(pages 511–512)



Technical problems, like calculating how much weight a ship could hold, spurred a movement towards observation and measurement.

New instruments like the telescope and microscope made fresh observations and discoveries possible.

Printing spread ideas more quickly than ever before.

Background to the Revolution (cont.)

(pages 511–512)

(pages 511–512)



The study of mathematics in the Renaissance contributed to the scientific achievements of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

The great scientists of the day believed that the secrets of nature were written in the language of mathematics.

These intellectuals–Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton, and others–developed new theories that became the foundation of the Scientific Revolution.

Background to the Revolution (cont.)

(pages 511–512)

(pages 511–512)



A Revolution in Astronomy

(pages 512–515)

(pages 512–515)

Born in the second-century A.D., Ptolemy was antiquity’s greatest astronomer.

Medieval philosophers constructed a geocentric (Earth is at the center) model of the universe called the Ptolemaic system.

It is a series of concentric spheres with a motionless Earth in the middle.



A Revolution in Astronomy (cont.) According to Ptolemy, the planets are in

different, crystal-like spheres.

They rotate, which accounts for the movements of the heavenly bodies.

The tenth sphere is the “prime mover,” which moves itself and gives motion to the other spheres.

Beyond this is Heaven, where God and all the saved souls reside.

(pages 512–515)

(pages 512–515)



A Revolution in Astronomy (cont.) Nicholas Copernicus of Poland published

his famous work, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, in 1543.

He believed his heliocentric (with the Sun in the center) system was more accurate than the Ptolemaic system.

Copernicus argued that all the planets revolved around the sun, the Moon revolved around Earth, and Earth rotated on its axis.

(pages 512–515)

(pages 512–515)



A Revolution in Astronomy (cont.) The German mathematician Johannes

Kepler also helped destroy the Ptolemaic system.

His observations confirmed that the Sun was at the center of the universe, and he tracked the elliptical orbits of the planets.

Ptolemy had insisted that the orbits were circular.

(pages 512–515)

(pages 512–515)



A Revolution in Astronomy (cont.) The Italian scientist and mathematician

Galileo Galilei answered one of the two remaining questions for the new astronomy: What are the planets made of?

He was the first European to make regular observations with a telescope.

He saw mountains on the Moon and the four moons orbiting Jupiter.

Ptolemy had said the heavenly bodies were pure orbs of light, but now it appeared they were material.

(pages 512–515)

(pages 512–515)



A Revolution in Astronomy (cont.) Galileo’s work began to make Europeans

aware of the new view of the universe.

He got into trouble with the Catholic Church, which ordered him to abandon the new system because the Copernican conception contradicted that of the Church and the Bible.

In the Copernican system, the heavens were not spiritual but material, and God was no longer in a specific place.

Most astronomers believed the new conception, however.

(pages 512–515)

(pages 512–515)



A Revolution in Astronomy (cont.) The Englishman Isaac Newton responded to

the second question for the new conception of the universe: What explains motion in the universe?

He was a mathematics professor at Cambridge University.

Newton published his views in Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy, also known as the Principia.

He defined the three laws of motion in the universe.

(pages 512–515)

(pages 512–515)



A Revolution in Astronomy (cont.) Crucial to his view was the universal law of

gravitation: every object in the universe is attracted to every other object by a force called gravity.

This explained why planetary bodies did not go off in a straight line, but traveled in elliptical orbits.

Newton gave the world a picture of the universe as a huge, regulated, uniform machine.

This picture dominated the modern worldview until Einstein’s theory of relativity.

(pages 512–515)

(pages 512–515)



Breakthroughs in Medicine and Chemistry

(page 515)(page 515)

In the Late Middle Ages, medicine was still dominated by the teaching of the Greek physician Galen (second century A.D.).

His views about anatomy were often wrong because he used animals, not people, for dissection.



Breakthroughs in Medicine and Chemistry (cont.) The new anatomy of the sixteenth century

was based on the work of Andreas Vesalius, published in his On the Fabric of the Human Body (1543).

He reported his results from dissecting human bodies as a professor of surgery at the University of Padua, presenting an accurate view of the individual organs and general structure of the human body.

He erroneously believed that the body had two kinds of blood.




William Harvey’s On the Motion of the Heart and Blood (1628) showed that the heart, not the liver as Galen had thought, was the beginning point of the blood’s circulation.

He also showed that the same blood runs through veins and arteries and that the blood makes a complete circuit through the body.

Harvey’s work was based on close observation and experiment.

Breakthroughs in Medicine and Chemistry (cont.)




The work of Robert Boyle in chemistry was also based on close observation and experiment.

He formulated Boyle’s Law about gases–the volume of a gas varies with the pressure exerted on it.

In the eighteenth century, Antoine Lavoisier, the founder of modern chemistry, invented a system of naming the chemical elements.

Breakthroughs in Medicine and Chemistry (cont.)




Women and the Origins of Modern Science

(pages 515–516)

(pages 515–516)

One of the most prominent female scientists of the seventeenth century was Margaret Cavendish.

In works such as her Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy, she criticized the belief that humans, through science, were the masters of nature.



Women and the Origins of Modern Science (cont.) In Germany, many women scientists were

astronomers.

They often received training in family observatories from their fathers or husbands.

Maria Winkelmann was the most famous; she assisted her husband, the famous Prussian astronomer Gottfried Kirch, and discovered a comet.

(pages 515–516)

(pages 515–516)



Winkelmann was denied a post as assistant astronomer at the Berlin Academy because of her gender.

In the view of most people of the seventeenth century, science and scholarship conflicted with the domestic roles women were expected to fulfill.

Women and the Origins of Modern Science (cont.)

(pages 515–516)

(pages 515–516)



Descartes and Reason

(pages 516–517)

(pages 516–517)

The work of the French philosopher René Descartes strongly reflects the Western view of humankind that came from the Scientific Revolution.

In his Discourse on Method (1637), he asserts that he can rationally be sure of only one thing–his own existence.

He asserted he would accept only those things his reason said were true.



Descartes and Reason (cont.) Descartes asserted that while he could not

doubt the existence of his mind–“I think, therefore I am”–he could doubt the existence of the material world.

He concluded that the material world and the mental world were two different realms. He separated mind and matter.

This made matter something inert and independent of the observer that could be investigated by a detached rationality.

(pages 516–517)

(pages 516–517)



Descartes has been called the father of modern rationalism.

This system of thought is based on the idea that reason is the chief source of knowledge.

Descartes and Reason (cont.)

(pages 516–517)

(pages 516–517)



The Scientific Method


During the Scientific Revolution, people were concerned about how they could best understand the physical universe.

They created the scientific method. The philosopher Francis Bacon was most

responsible for this method.



The Scientific Method (cont.) Bacon emphasized arriving at conclusions

about nature using inductive reasoning, or making generalizations from particular observations and experiments organized to test hypotheses.

He believed science was to give humankind new discoveries and the power to serve human purposes by conquering “nature in action.”

The control and domination of nature became an important concern of science and its accompanying technology.


PHILOSOPHY IN THE AGE OF REASON

• Enlightenment sparked by scientific revolution of 1500s and 1600s• Scientific discoveries of 1500s and 1600s changed the

way people looked at the world• Natural law- rules that can be discovered through reason• People started to believe that reason could solve social

problems as well as scientific problems= The Enlightenment

Left: Rene Descartes, French scientist of the late Renaissance, stressed human reasoning in understanding the world

Right: Immanuel Kant, German philosopher of late Renaissance/early Enlightenment era, first to speak of an “enlightenment”

OPPOSING VIEWS OF SOCIETY

• Thomas Hobbes and John Locke: conflicting views• Hobbes: supported strong government (absolute monarchy),

thinks people are basically terrible, developed idea of a social contract

• Locke: people basically good, had natural rights (life, liberty, property), supported limited government

John Locke, whose ideas inspired revolution around the world!

Of Hobbes and Locke,which do you think hadmore of an impact on the American Revolution?

THE PHILOSOPHES

• Montesquieu and the Separation of Powers• Freedom of Thought: Voltaire• Denis Diderot’s works: First Encyclopedia • The Social Contract: Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Left: Voltaire, French author of Candide

Right: Rousseau, author of The Social Contract

NEW ECONOMIC THINKING

• Mercantilism- government regulates prices and tariffs to gain favorable balance of trade

• Laissez-faire economics= government should stay out of the economy, free trade

• Adam Smith- argued for free market, said economy runs on a system of supply and demand

• Smith also believed government should stay out of economy, but did have a responsibility to protect society

SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT:

• How did the Scientific Revolution that took place during the Renaissance affect the Enlightenment?

• How were the opinions of Hobbes and Locke different, as they relate to government’s role?

• What kinds of ideas or topics did the Philosophers address in their writings?

• How did Rousseau’s and Voltaire’s beliefs differ?

ENLIGHTENMENT IDEAS SPREAD

• New ideas challenge society• People began to question “divine right” & class system• Church & government censored writers, banned books

• Writers sometimes wrote fiction to expose corruption without getting in trouble (Jonathan Swift, Voltaire, Montesquieu)

• Salons in women’s homes, Philosophers’ ideas spread• Started with noblewomen hosting poetry readings in homes• Middle class women began to do it as well

Re-creation of a French Salon from the Museum of Decorative Arts in Lyon, France

NEW IDEAS REFLECTED IN LITERATURE AND THE ARTS

• Movement of Baroque to Rococo• Heavy, bright, grandiose to light, charming, and elegant• Religious and military themed art to lighter topics• Popular in spite of Philosophers dislike

Portrait of Carl Gustaf Wrangel by David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl

Jean-Frédéric Schall - Gardener in Straw Hat

• Introduction of what we call classical music• Opera and ballet become popular all over Western Europe• Bach, Handel, Haydn, Mozart

• Drawing of Mozart painting of • By Doris Stock, 1789 J.S. Bach

• New literary form: the Novel• Growing middle class wanted stories in prose form• Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

Composers inspired by Enlightenment

ENLIGHTENED DESPOTS LIKE THE NEW IDEAS

• Reform attempts by Frederick II• Prussian king from 1740 to 1786, absolute monarch• Allowed free press, religious toleration, reduced torture use

• Catherine the Great’s response• She studied works of Philosophers & admired them • Religious toleration, reduction of torture, criticism of serfdom

• More reforms by Joseph II• Traveled in disguise to get a feel for regular people• Like his mom(Maria Theresa), wanted to improve peasants’ lives• Religious equality for Protestants and Jews, abolition of serfdom• Many of his reforms were canceled after his death

LIVES OF THE MAJORITY

• Slow to change• Early 1700’s

• Most people lived in country, didn’t hear new ideas

• Late 1700’s• Enlightenment ideas started to spread to even the lower

classes• Some people didn’t want change, just wanted stable lives• Others started revolutions to try to bring about social change

Three PeasantsEngraving by Albrecht Dürer

QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT:

• What did people opposed to the Enlightenment do to stop these new ideas from spreading?

• Why did the philosophers want to share their ideas with the rulers of Europe?

• Why was life so slow to change for many Europeans?

BIRTH OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC

• Britain as a global power• Location- island, large navy= good position to control trade• Few restrictions on trade= good for business• Won wars against France• gained control of Spanish slave trade (later abolished slavery in

their territories)• 1707= union of England, Scotland, & Wales (Ireland added

later)• King George III

• 60 year reign started 1760• Placed his friends in important positions to strengthen his power

• Got them to Parliament to gain support for his policies

• Many of his policies did not work out well for him

MID-1700S IN AMERICAN COLONIES

• String of colonies on east coast of what would become US, not united or connected

• Britain applied mercantilist policies to force colonists to buy from them and sell to them

• Navigation Acts were supposed to regulate trade and production, (were not enforced)

• Smuggling was so common that the colonists didn’t see anything wrong with it

• Colonists were more diverse than in Great Britain, social lines were blurred

• Colonists set up their own assemblies and practiced open and free discussion

COLONISTS UNHAPPY WITH THE SITUATION

• Various actions by Parliament and King George III were making colonists mad (taxes)

• Colonists rebel• March 1770= Boston Massacre• 1773- Boston Tea Party• First Continental Congress met in Philadelphia to discuss options

• Colonists declare their independence• April 1775= Revolutionary War started in Massachusetts • 1776= 2nd Continental Congress set up the Continental Army with

George Washington in charge• Thomas Jefferson wrote Declaration of Independence, full of Enlightenment ideas

• Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness Popular sovereignty= government by consent of the governed

Adopted by Continental Congress on July 4, 1776

AMERICAN REVOLUTION

• Advantages:• Britain: better trained soldiers, huge navy, natural resources,

support of about 1/3 of colonists and some Native tribes• Colonists: home court advantage, strong leadership, dedicated

to winning their independence

• France supports the colonies• 1777- Colonists won the Battle of Saratoga, France decided to

join (so did other nations)• Washington held his troops together in dire circumstances

• Treaty of Paris ends the war• 1781- French blockade of Chesapeake Bay forced British to

surrender (Yorktown)• 1783- Treaty of Paris ended the war, forced Britain to recognize

the United States of America

A NEW CONSTITUTION

• Articles of Confederation• Too weak, focused on states’ rights, not central gov’t• 1787- framers met to write new constitution (Washington,

Madison, Franklin, etc.)

• Huge impact of Enlightenment ideas• Took Montesquieu’s idea of separation of powers & checks and

balances• Federal Republic- states within a nation, each with rights• Government as social contract (Locke, Rousseau)

• elected president and legislature (could be replaced)

• Bill of Rights guaranteeing certain freedoms• Became supreme law of the land in 1789 (over 235 years old!)

SYMBOL OF FREEDOM

• Our struggle for independence inspired revolutions in Latin America and France

• Many other nations have constitutions that are based on ours!

QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT:

• What Enlightenment ideas are found in the Declaration of Independence?

• What advantages did the British have in the American Revolution? What advantages did the colonists have?

• What Enlightenment ideas are found in the Constitution?

WORKS CITED:

• Ellis, E. G., & Esler, A. (2007).Prentice Hall world history. Boston, Mass.: Pearson Prentice Hall.

• All photographs are from Wikimedia Commons and are in public domain due to one of the following reasons:• Copyright expired due to age of the work• Reproduction of a work already in public domain• No copyright exists

chapter 17 pp. 542-569 from prentice-hall world history (2007) the enlightenment

Documents

mouse button

space bar

scientific revolution

astronomy pages

enlightenment slide

revolution medieval

heavenly spheres

motionless earth