the enlightenment and its impact on europe and on european colonies voltaireben franklin
TRANSCRIPT
The Enlightenment and Its Impact on Europe and on European
Colonies
Voltaire Ben Franklin
A Cultural Explosion in Europe – The Renaissance
• Started in the 1400s A.D. • Europeans became wealthier, mainly through
increased trade• This gave them the ability to spend money on
culture: art, architecture, books, drama, science, exploration, etc.
• Europeans increasingly felt that they might be able to rebuild advanced civilizations to match those of the ancient Greeks and Romans (re – birth)!
(you don’t need to take notes on this slide!) Renaissance Art is Often Studied Because
it Demonstrates the Cultural Explosion
The New Daring of European Renaissance Thinkers Led to Amazing Accomplishments
• Most notably, it led to the discovery of both a ‘New World’ and a set of scientific laws explaining the physical world
• Think about the importance of each: – Europeans discovered two whole continents not even
known by their Greek and Roman idols – the size of the world was suddenly twice as large
– The careful use of a scientific method of thinking based on reason led scientists to ‘rewrite’ the structure of the universe, solving lots of mysteries that had always puzzled humanity
• Humans now had a nearly perfect understanding of all motion on earth and in the heavens
• Clearly, humans were opening a new era of limitless possibilities
William Blake’s Newton, 1795
Pre-Renaissance
Post-Renaissance
For Many Europeans, (Impressed by their Accomplishments), European Social Systems
Seemed Antiquated (old or out-dated)
• These thinkers wanted to find ‘a Newton for the social sciences’ – In other words, a thinker who might unlock the
secret natural laws of harmonious government
• This movement was known as the Enlightenment
European Governments at the Time of the Enlightenment Were Primarily Absolute Monarchies
• The power of these gov’s came from Divine Right• This often seemed random or absurd to thinkers familiar with
the accomplishments of human reason in other fields• Examples
– In England, over the space of two hundred years, kings were Catholic, then one became a Protestant, then his heir became Catholic, then Protestant again, then Catholic, then the people killed the king because they didn’t like him and their was a period of military rule, then another king took power who was Protestant, then a Catholic took over, and then people got rid of their king again (without killing him, this time) and got a Protestant again.
• So, could God not make up his mind about what religion he wanted England to be? Doesn’t this seem like an absurd way to run society, especially a society that can cross the oceans and describe the cosmos?
• Yes.
– Carlos Hechizado (see pic)
The Most Famous Enlightenment Thinkers Proposed Alternative Models
• Hobbes and Locke both agreed with the Social Contract Theory- the idea that governments should get their power from the people (popular sovereignty) rather than from God
• But they disagreed on the right type of gov. under this social contract– Hobbes still wanted an absolute king
• Why? – Locke’s ideas led in the direction of democracy
• He thought people had natural rights that no gov. can take away• People have the right of revolution - to overthrow a gov. that is not keeping
its end of the Social Contract
• Montesquieu, another Enlightenment philosopher, was worried that any group given power would be likely to abuse it, so he argued that power should be divided to provide a check on the abuse of power- (checks and balances)
• Voltaire argued that freedom of speech was the best way to keep a government on good behavior– If people had the power to criticize the gov., gov. would eventually
reform and behave properly
Meanwhile, European Colonies Were Developing in the New World
• In most places, Native Americans have been ravaged by small pox
• Thus, Europeans in the New World were essentially handed (by God, many of them thought) a vast amount of land to inhabit
• Do we see why the ‘Americans’ were in an interesting position to break the traditional bonds of European absolutist monarchies?
The British Colonies in North America• For much of the early history of the British colonies, Britain
hadn’t taken much interest in them– They did not seem immediately useful- in the earliest colonies, it
was a struggle just to stay alive– There was little to no gold in the British colonies- the biggest
money-makers were tobacco and sugar
• Slowly, it became clear that in the vastness of the new continent, great wealth could be made – Britain Began to Take an Increasing Interest
• But Keep in Mind How Far Away Britain and America were in the 18th Century– 4-6 week trip by boat – If the Indians attack or there is a mob uprising in a colonial city, do
you contact Britain to find out what to do about it?
Does the American Revolution start to seem almost inevitable at this point?