The Scientific Revolution

The Enlightenment

The Impact of the Enlightenment

Colonial Empires and the American

Revolution

Revolution and Enlightenment, 1550-1800

The Scientific Revolution

Objectives:

Discuss how the Scientific

Revolution gave Europeans a new

way to view humankind’s place

in the universe

Background to the Revolution

These scientists relied on a few ancient authorities—

especially Aristotle—for their scientific knowledge

Renaissance humanists had mastered Greek as well as

Latin and thus had access to newly discovered works by Ptolemy, Archimedes, and

Plato

Background to the Revolution

Background to the Revolution

These scientists relied on a few ancient authorities—

especially Aristotle—for their scientific knowledge

Renaissance humanists had mastered Greek as well as

Latin and thus had access to newly discovered works by Ptolemy, Archimedes, and

Plato

Background to the Revolution

These scientists relied on a few ancient authorities—

especially Aristotle—for their scientific knowledge

Renaissance humanists had mastered Greek as well as

Latin and thus had access to newly discovered works by Ptolemy, Archimedes, and

Plato

The invention of new instruments, such as the

telescope and microscope, made fresh scientific discoveries possible

The study of mathematics was promoted in the Renaissance by the

rediscovery of ancient mathematicians

Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Newton

A Revolution in Astronomy

Secrets of nature were written in the language

of mathematics

Major discoveries in science and astronomy

overturned the conception of the universe held by

Westerners in the Middle Ages

The Ptolemaic SystemThis system is called

*geocentric because it places the earth at the center of the

universe

The universe is a series of concentric spheres

The earth is fixed motionless surrounded by crystal-like

transparent orbs of light

God dwells at the highest most exterior place of the universe

This system is called *geocentric because it places the earth at the center of the

universe

The universe is a series of concentric spheres

The earth is fixed motionless surrounded by crystal-like

transparent orbs of light

God dwells at the highest most exterior place of the universe

The Ptolemaic SystemThis system is called

*geocentric because it places the earth at the center of the

universe

The universe is a series of concentric spheres

The earth is fixed motionless surrounded by crystal-like

transparent orbs of light

God dwells at the highest most exterior place of the universe

Copernicus and KeplerCopernicus’ On the Revolution of

the Heavenly Spheres

*Heliocentric, or sun-centered, conception of the universe

offered a more accurate explanation than did the

Ptolemaic system

The spheres rotate around the sun

The moon around the earth and the earth around on its axis

Copernicus and KeplerCopernicus’ On the Revolution of

the Heavenly Spheres

*Heliocentric, or sun-centered, conception of the universe

offered a more accurate explanation than did the

Ptolemaic system

The spheres rotate around the sun

The moon around the earth and the earth around on its axis

Kepler used detailed

astronomical data to arrive at his laws of planetary motion

Kepler showed that the orbits of the

planets around the Sun were not

circular, rather elliptical

Kepler used detailed

astronomical data to arrive at his laws of planetary motion

Kepler showed that the orbits of the

planets around the Sun were not

circular, rather elliptical

Galileo*Galileo Galilei taught

mathematics and was the first European to make regular observations of

the heavens using a telescope

The Starry Messenger

The Copernican model and Galileo threatened

the Catholic Church

Galileo*Galileo Galilei taught

mathematics and was the first European to make regular observations of

the heavens using a telescope

The Starry Messenger

The Copernican model and Galileo threatened

the Catholic Church

NewtonMathematical Principles of

Natural Philosophy (Principia)

The three laws of motion that govern the planetary

bodies

*universal law of gravitation

Every object in the universe is attracted to every other

object by a force called gravity

Newton’s ideas created a new picture of the

universe. It was now seen as one huge, regulated, uniform machine

that worked according to natural

laws

Breakthroughs in Medicine and Chemistry

A revolution in medicine also began in

the 16th century

Ancient Greek, Galen

Relied on animals for his medical and

anatomical research

Andreas Vesalius

One the Fabric of the Human Body

He dissecting human bodies

Individual organs and general structure of the human body

He still clung to Galen’s erroneous idea that two kinds of blood flowed in the veins

and arteries

William Harvey

On the Motion of the Heart and Blood

He showed that the heart—not the liver, as Galen had

thought—was the beginning point for the circulation of

blood in the body

He showed that blood makes a complete circuit through

the body

Science of chemistry arose in the 17th and

18th

Robert Boyle

controlled experiments and explored the

properties of gases

The volume of a gas varies with the pressure

exerted on it

Women and the Origins of Modern Science

Women as well as men were involved in the Scientific

Revolution

*Margaret Cavendish

Observations Upon Experimental Philosophy

She was critical of the growing belief that humans, through

science, were the masters of nature

Descartes and Reason*Rene Descartes, the father of

rationalism

Began by thinking and writing about the doubt and

uncertainty that seemed to be everywhere

Discourse on Method

“I think, therefore I am”

“The mind cannot be doubted but the body and material

world can, the two must be radically different

The Scientific Method

Scientific Method—a systematic procedure for collecting and analyzing

evidence

*Francis Bacon, an English philosopher with few

scientific credentials, believed that instead of relying on the ideas of ancient authorities,

scientists should use inductive reasoning

Objectives:

Discuss how the Scientific

Revolution gave Europeans a new

way to view humankind’s place

in the universe

The Enlightenment

Objectives:

1. Describe how eighteenth-century

intellectuals used the ideas of the Scientific

Revolution to reexamine all aspects of life

2. Relate how people gathered in salons to

discuss the ideas of the philosophes

Path to the Enlightenment

18th century philosophical movement of

intellectuals who were greatly impressed

with achievements of the Scientific Revolutions

Isaac Newton and John Locke

Newton: the world-machine

Locke: theory of knowledge and “tabula

rasa”

People believed that they could discover the natural laws to produce

an ideal society

Philosophes and Their Ideas

The intellectuals of the Enlightenment were called

*philosophes

Writers, professors, journalists, economists, etc.

Most were French with a few important English thinkers

Three key thinkers: Montesquieu, Voltaire, and

Diderot

Montesquieu

Came from French nobility, writing The Spirit of the Laws

Tried to use the scientific method to find the natural laws that

govern the social and political relationships of human beings

Wrote on governments: republics, despotism, and

monarchies

*separation of power

Voltaire

Came from prosperous middle-class

wrote pamphlets, novels, plays, letters, essays, and

histories

especially well known for his criticism of

Christianity

*deism

DiderotAuthor of the first

Encyclopedia

He wrote the text to “change the general way

of thinking”

Many articles attacked religious superstition

and supported religious toleration

Consumed by doctors, clergy, teachers, and

lawyers

Toward A New Social Science

EconomicsThe Physocrats, a French

group interested in identifying the natural economic laws that

govern human society

*Adam Smith, Wealth of Nations

wrote on *laissez-faire, “let it be” — the state should not

interfere in economic matters

The Later Enlightenment

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Discourse on the Origins of the Inequality of Mankind

People adopted laws and governments to preserve

private property

The Social Contract

Entire societies agree to be governed by its general will

The Growth of ReadingThe number of published titles issued each year by

French publishers rose from 300 in 1750 to about

1,600 in the 1780s

Along with magazines came daily newspapers—a relatively cheap and even

free publication at coffeehouses

Social World of the Enlightenment

The Salon

Salons were elegant drawing rooms of the wealthy upper class in

which writers and artists gathered together with aristocrats, government

officials, and wealthy middle-class people

Religion in the Enlightenment

Most Europeans in the 18th century were still

Christians

Catholic parish churches remained an important

center of life

New movements emerged, particularly

Methodism

*John Wesley, an Anglican minister, had a mystical

experience in which “the gift of God’s grace” assured him

of salvation

He street preached, especially to lower classes

Methodism led to the abolition of slavery and gave the lower and middle classes in English society a sense of

purpose and community

Objectives:

1. Describe how eighteenth-century

intellectuals used the ideas of the Scientific

Revolution to reexamine all aspects of life

2. Relate how people gathered in salons to

discuss the ideas of the philosophes

The Impact of the Enlightenment

Objectives:

1. Discuss how Enlightenment beliefs

were reflected in the art, music, and literature of

the time

2. Summarize how Enlightenment thought

influenced the politics of Europe in the eighteenth

century

The ArtsArchitecture and Art

The ideas of the Enlightenment also had an impact on European culture

The palace of Louis XIV at Versailles, in France, had

made an enormous impact on Europe

grandiose residences emerged, blending the secular and the sacred

By 1730, a new artistic style spread all over

Europe: *rococo

Unlike the baroque style, rococo

emphasized grace, charm, and gentle action—a highly secular style

Its lightness and charm spoke of the pursuit of

pleasure, happiness, and love

Music*Johann Sebastian Bach, a renowned

organist as well as a composer

Mass in B Minor

Handel, a German who spent most of career in

England

He is probably best known for his religious music, namely Messiah

Bach and Handel perfected the baroque

style

Classicism style emerged in the late

18th century

The style is best demonstrated by

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

While there are many examples, he is most

known for Don Giovanni

Enlightenment and Enlightened Absolutism

The philosophes believed in natural

rights for all people: law, religious worship,

speech, press, and property

They argued that nations should be

governed by enlightened rulers

Some Absolutist Rulers attempted to practice

*Enlightened absolutism

Prussia, Austria, and Russia will be examples

Did they allow freedom of speech, press, the

right to private property?

Prussia: Army and Bureaucracy

Frederick William I strove to maintain a

highly efficient bureaucracy of civil

service workers

His other major concern was the army, creating

the fourth largest in Europe

Frederick “II” the Great was one of the

best educated and most cultured

monarchs in the 18th century

He abolished the use of torture, granted limited freedom of speech and press

The Austrian EmpireThe sprawling empire and its

composite of different ethnicities, languages, religions, and cultures

made it difficult to rule

Joseph II attempted to reform, creating a society based on

reason

His reform programs largely failed

His successors undid almost all of his reforms

Russia under Catherine the Great

Catherine the Great (r. 1762-96) was familiar with the works of the philosophes and seemed to

favor enlightened reforms

She promised to reform the law code, that all are equal before

the law

She continually postponed the application of this law due to

“war”

Enlightened Absolutism?

Only Joseph II truly attempted to apply the radical changes

that the enlightened philosophers proposed

All three rulers were chiefly guided by a concern for the

power and well-being of their states

Ultimately, 18th century monarchs sought a balance of

power, preventing any one from dominating the others

War of the Austrian Succession

In 1740, a major war broke out in connection with the succession to the Austrian

throne

Maria Theresa took the throne when her father,

Charles V, died

Prussia invaded because a women ruled Austria. France

allied with Prussia.

Austria allied itself with Great Britain

The War expanded and was fought in other parts of the world, the far east, India, and North America

The Seven Years’ WarNew Allies

A great reversal occurred in alliances

France allied with Austria

Russia allied with FranceBritain allied with

Prussia

The reversal was precipitated by colonial rivalries between Britain

and France

The War in Europe

Europe witnessed the clash of the two major alliances: the British

and prussians against the Austrians,

Russians, and French

This conflict spread, creating a global war

The War in India and North America

The struggle between Britain and France in the rest of the

world had more decisive results

The greatest conflicts arose in the North America

French North America was run by the French government as a vast trading area: fur, leather,

fish, and timber

The British and French fought over two primary

areas in North America: the water ways of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Ohio River

valley

The French were able to gain the support of the Indians. As

traders and not settler, the French viewed by the Indians

with less hostility than the British

Objectives:

1. Discuss how Enlightenment beliefs

were reflected in the art, music, and literature of

the time

2. Summarize how Enlightenment thought

influenced the politics of Europe in the eighteenth

century

Colonial Empires and the American Revolution

Objectives:

1. Explain how the colonies of Latin America and British North America

were developing in ways that differed from their

European mother countries

2. Analyze why the American colonies

revolted against Great Britain and formed a new

nation

Colonial Empires in Latin America

In the 16th century, Portugal came to dominate *Brazil

Spain established an enormous colonial empire in the western hemisphere

A new civilization arose which we call Latin

America

Latin America was a multiracial society

Intermarriage between Europeans

and Native Americans—

*mestizos

African slaves and Europeans—*Mulattoes

Economic Foundations

One source of wealth came from abundant supplies of

gold and silver, which were sent to Europe

Farming was the long lasting and most

rewarding source of prosperity for Latin

America

Trade provided another avenue for profit:

sugar, tobacco, diamonds, and animal

hides

Both Spain and Portugal closely

regulated the trade of their American colonies

to keep others out

State and ChurchColonial officials in Latin

America had much freedom in carrying out imperial policies

Spanish and Portuguese rulers were determined to Christianize

the native peoples

The Catholic Church, through Dominicans, Franciscans, and Jesuits, gained great influence

These missionaries converted people, taught trades, and encouraged to grow crops

Britain and British North America

A new dynasty came to power—the *Hanoverians

George I, from the German state of Hanover, became

king

*Robert Walpole served a s head of cabinet (Prime

Minister) pursued a peaceful foreign policy

The American Revolution

After the Seven Years’ War, British leaders wanted to get

new revenues from the colonies—a source to fund the cost of

war and defense of the colonies

1765, Stamp Act, required on all printed materials,

newspapers, etc.

Rebellion erupted

The War BeginsThe colonies organized the

First Continental Congress of 1774 to consider to “take up arms and organize militias”

War erupted in 1775 at Lexington and Concord,

Massachusetts

1776, Second Continental Congress approved a

declaration of independence written by Thomas Jefferson,

an “Enlightened” thinker

Foreign Support and British Defeat

Of great importance to the colonies’ cause was

support from foreign countries during their

rebellion

The French supplied arms and money to the rebels

from the beginning of the war

Spain and the Dutch Republic also entered the

war against Great Britain

The Treaty of Paris, signed in

1783, recognized the independence of the American

colonies

The Birth of a New Nation

The states feared concentrated power and each one was primarily concerned

for its own interests

The Articles of Confederation did little to provide for a

strong central government

The Constitutional convention in 1787 drafted a

new national government

The ConstitutionThe new system created a federal system in which power would be shared

between the national government and the state

governments

The federal government’s powers were broken into three separate branches to prevent a monarchy:

executive, legislative, and Judicial

The Bill of Rights

The new congress created a “Bill of Rights”—10

amendments (changes) to the constitution granting

freedom of religion, speech, press, etc.

Many of these rights directly derived from the

European intellectual during the Enlightenment

Objectives:

1. Explain how the colonies of Latin America and British North America

were developing in ways that differed from their

European mother countries

2. Analyze why the American colonies

revolted against Great Britain and formed a new

nation