The Enlightenment

• 16-17th Century: the power of reason• Writers sought to reform

government and bring about a more just society

Despite opposition from government and Church leaders, Enlightenment ideas spread, and helped to form the concepts of democracy and nationhood.

Overview

The EnlightenmentEnlightenment – 1700s Europe; people rejected traditional ideas and supported a belief in human reason.

Thinkers:• Thomas Hobbes• John Locke• Montesquieu• Voltaire

• Denis Diderot• Jean-Jacques Rousseau• Mary Wollstonecraft• Adam Smith

Natural Laws – rules that govern human nature (Not everyone supports this!)

Thomas HobbesWrote: Leviathan• Believed that people were

greedy and selfish• Only a powerful government

could create a peaceful, orderly society

Thomas HobbesSocial Contract – An agreement by which people give up a state of nature for an organized society.

Hobbes came to this view during the English Civil War, and favored absolute monarch, which could impose order and compel obedience.

John LockeWrote: Two Treatises of Government

• English thinker of the late 1600s like Hobbes

• Rejected absolute monarchy• had an optimistic view of

human nature• Believed that people were

basically moral and that all people possess natural rights (ie: life, liberty, and property)

Natural Rights – Rights that belong to all humans from birth

John Locke

Locke’s Argument: people form governments to protect their natural rights…

…if the government does not protect these rights, then the people have the right to overthrow it!!!

John Locke• This idea of a “right to revolution” was radical

• Locke’s ideas later influenced Thomas Jefferson’s writing of the Declaration of Independence and the French Revolutionaries!!

The Baron deMontesquieu

Wrote: The Spirit of the Laws• Studied ancient history and the

governments of Europe

• He spoke well of Britain’s limited monarchy

• Wrote that the powers of government should be separated into three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial

• Separation of powers would prevent tyranny by creating checks and balances

• Each branch could keep the other two from gaining too much power!

PresidentEnforces the Law

CongressMakes the Law

Supreme CourtInterprets the Law

Voltaire

• French thinker of the 1700s

• The most famous philosophe

• Supported free speech• Used his wit to criticize

the French government and the Catholic Church for their failure to allow religious toleration and intellectual freedom (freedom to think)

Philosophes – Member of a group of the Enlightenment who tried to apply the methods of science to the improvement of society.

Voltaire• Wrote books and

pamphlets defending freedom of thought

• Spoke out against the slave trade

• His criticisms offended the French government and the Catholic Church……so he was imprisoned and forced into exile!

Denis DiderotWrote: Encyclopedia

• Another philosophe• Labored 25 years to produce

his 28-volume Encyclopedia:A collection of articles by such Enlightenment thinkers as Montesquieu and Voltaire. The articles…

•Denounced slavery, praised freedom of expression, and advocated education for all•Attacked divine right theory and traditional religions

Denis Diderot

Impact:•Catholic Church threatened to excommunicate anyone who bought or read the Encyclopedia•French government said that it was an attack on public morals

• Despite these efforts, the book sold thousands of copies and helped Enlightenment ideas spread throughout Europe!!!

Jean-JacquesRousseau

Wrote: The Social Contract• 1700s French philosophe• Believed that people were

naturally good but were corrupted by the evils of society

• Example: unequal distribution of property.

Ideas:•Government should not be too powerful•Must be freely elected•Supported the will of the majority, called the “general will”•The Majority should always work for the common good

Jean-JacquesRousseau Difference between Rousseau

and most philosophes: •the individual should be subordinate to the good of the community.

Hated of all forms of political and economic oppression…

…will lead revolutionaries in the years to come (seeing a trend?)

MaryWollstonecraft

Wrote: A Vindication of the Rights of Women

• British social critic • Believed that a woman’s first

duty was to be a good mother, BUT women should also be able to decide what is best for themselves!

• Should not have to be completely dependent upon her husband!!!

• Calls for equal education for girls and boy

• Education could give women the tools to compete with men in public life

AdamSmith

Wrote: The Wealth of Nations

• British economist• Believed that the free

market should be allowed to regulate business activity

• Strong supporter of Laissez faire economics

Physiocrats – Enlightenment thinkers who searched for natural laws to explain economics.

Laissez Faire – Policy allowing business to operate with little or no government interference.

AdamSmith

• All economic growth was linked to the market forces of supply and demand

• Believed that whenever there was a demand for goods or services, suppliers would seek to meet it

• By fulfilling the demand, suppliers get profit (motive)

• Ideas gained great popularity

• Helped shape economies in the 1800s and 1900s

Impact of the Enlightenment

Censorship – A restriction on access to ideas and information.

Salons – Informal social gathering at which writers, artists, and philosophers exchanged ideas; originated in France in the 1600s.

Impact of the EnlightenmentEnlightened Despot – An absolute ruler who used his or her power to reform society and bring about political or social change.Maria Theresa – Austria

•Forced nobles/clergy to pay taxes and not just peasants; improved education

Joseph II – (Maria’s son); Austria•Legal reforms, religious toleration, ended censorship, and abolished serfdom

Catherine the Great – Russia•Asked for advice from nobles, free peasants, and townspeople (unprecedented in Russia)•built schools and hospitals, promoted women’s education, and religious tolerance

Impact of the Enlightenment

The Enlightenment had a profound impact throughout Europe in the 1700s.

• Greater numbers of people began to question established beliefs and customs.

• Enlightenment beliefs affected leaders and the development of nations.

•Many writers, such as Voltaire, were thrown into prison, and their books were banned and burned.

•Many government and Church leaders worked to defend the established systems (censorship).

Impact of the Enlightenment

Democracy

Enlightenment ideas inspired1.A sense of individualism2.A belief in personal freedom3.A sense of the basic equality of human beingsAs these concepts grew and changed, so did the growth of democracy.

Impact of the Enlightenment

Nationalism

As people in a country drew together to fight for a democratic government, strong feelings of nationalism arose. In the late 1700s, Enlightenment ideas would contribute to a new age of Revolution.