The Age of Enlightenment and American Revolution (1707-1800) Chapter 18

The Age of Enlightenment and American

Revolution (1707-1800)Chapter 18

The Origins of the Enlightenment

Scientific:The Scientific Revolution of the 1500-1600s transformed the way people in Europe viewed the world.-Science presented new standards for arriving at the truth.

-Science allowed alternatives to be imagined in everything from politics to religion.-Scientific advances convinced educated Europeans of the power of human reason. People thought that if reason could be used to find the laws of the physical world, then reason could be used to discover natural laws, or laws that govern human nature.

-Thus, the Scientific Revolution led to another revolution of thinking called the Enlightenment.

BIG DEBATE: Religion v. Reason- The Enlightenment did NOT banish religion and superstition.- They existed side by side –-- one often provided justification for the other.- Clergy played an important role in the trainingof scientists & philosophers. (many were activein the field themselves!)

Medieval View v. Enlightenment Thinking

Reason& Logic

Traditionsand

Superstitions

- Rationalism- Empiricism (need evidence to prove) - tolerance- skepticism

- nostalgia for the past- organized religions- irrationalism- emotionalism

The Origins of the Enlightenment

Political:-Aversion to the political abuses of the 1680s (Age of Absolutism)-James II --– Catholicization & the return of absolutism in England. -- Resolved in England by: - 1688 Glorious Revolution - new political party -- Whigs / Tories- Louis XIV --– revoked the Edict of Nantes (persecutionof the Huguenots).

-Argued that people were cruel, greedy, and selfish by nature andif not controlled they would rob,fight, and oppress one another.-Therefore, he thought a rulershould be given absolute powerand should impose order and compel obedience.-People should enter a “Social Contract” an agreement bywhich people gave up state of nature for organized society.

1651

Enlightenment Thinkers

Thomas Hobbes

Hobbes’ Leviathan

Thomas Hobbes

John Locke (1632 – 1704)


• More optimistic view of human nature.

• People were basically reasonable and moral.

• Believed people had natural rights, or rights that belonged to all humans from birth.

• Included life, liberty, and property.

• In Two Treatises of Government, Locke argued that people formed governments to protect their natural rights.

• Best kind of govt. had ltd. power and was accepted by all citizens. Rejected absolute monarchy.

• Radical idea that a govt. had an obligation to the people it governed.

• People have right to overthrow govt. if it fails its obligations or violates people’s natural right. Right to revolution proved influential.

• Favored republic as best form of government.

John Locke

• The French Baron de Montesquieu, (1689 – 1755) studied European govt. from Italy to England.

• Sharp criticism for absolute monarchy. • Advocated British model of separation

of powers as a way to protect liberty.• Good govt. should have 3 branches:

legislative, executive, and judicial. • Each branch should serve as check on

other 2. Checks and balances.

Montesquieu


The Philosophes

- Philosophes: a group of French Enlightenment thinkers who believed that the use of reason could lead to reforms of government, law, and society.

- Philosophes = “lovers of wisdom”

- Believed they had moral obligation to improve society.

- Ideas spread beyond France and Europe

The Philosophes

Voltaire• Most famous of the philosophes.• In his writing he targeted corrupt

officials and aristocrats. • Openly opposed the slave trade and

religious prejudice. • His outspokenness offended both the

French government and Catholic Church. Was imprisoned and forced into exile.

• Even when he saw his books outlawed and burned, he continued to defend freedom of speech.

Jean Jacques Rousseau(1712 – 1778)

1762

-“Man is born free, and every- where he is in chains.” - Civilization corrupted people’s natural goodness.-The only good govt. is one freely formed by the “general will” of society. - People agree to give up some freedoms for the common good.-Broader democracy than Locke… Rousseau wanted to abolish titles of nobility.

The Age of Enlightenment and Revolution (1550 – 1789)

Mary Wollstonecraft(1759 – 1797)

1792

-Women are not inferior to men.-Urged education of women.-Urged women to enter male-dominated fields of medicine and politics.


Centers of the Enlightenment


A Parisian Salon


A Parisian Salon


The Salonnieres

Madame Geoffrin(1699-1777) Mademoiselle

Julie de Lespinasse

(1732*-1776)

MadameSuzanne Necker

(1739-1794)


Denis Diderot (1713-1784)


Diderot’s Encyclopédie


The Encyclopédie - Complete cycle of knowledge…changed the general way of thinking.- 28 volumes.- Alphabetical, cross-referenced, illustrated.- First published in 1751.- 1500 livres a set. (1 livre = approx. $10.50)


Subscriptions to Diderot’s Encyclopedie


Reading During the Enlightenment- Literacy: - 80% of men; 60 % of women.- Books were expensive (one day’s wages).- Many readers for each book (20 : 1) - novels, plays & other literature. - journals, memoirs, “private lives.” - philosophy, history, theology. - newspapers, political pamphlets.


1600 – 1750.

From a Portuguese word “barocca”,

meaning “a pearl of irregular shape.”

Implies strangeness, irregularity, and extravagance.

The more dramatic, the better!

Baroque


Emotional. Colors were brighter than bright;

darks were darker than dark.

Counter-Reformation art. Paintings & sculptures in church

contextsshould speak to the illiterate rather than to the well-informed.

Baroque Style of Art & Architecture


St. Peter’s Basilica,

Vatican City

By Gialorenzo Bernini


Interior of a Dominican Church in Vilnius, Lithuania


“David and Goliath”

by Caravaggio


“Judith BeheadingHolofernes”

by Artemisia Gentileschi


“The Elevation of The Cross”

by Peter Paul Reubens

1610-1611





What is meant by the term “enlightened” despotism?


Enlightened Despots

-Support ideas of the philosophes-No intention of giving up power-Wanted to make their countries stronger-Wanted to make their own rule more effective

-Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia-Joseph II of Austria-Catherine II (the Great) of Russia


Frederick II (the Great) of Prussia 1712 – 1786 (r. 1740 – 1786)

-“The First Servant of the State”-Granted religious freedoms-Reduced censorship-Improved education-Reformed judicial system, abolished torture

But…

-He did nothing to end serfdom in Prussia because he needed landowners’ support.


Joseph II of Austria, 1741 – 1790 (HRE from 1765 – 1790), (ruled Austria from 1780 – 1790)-Son of Maria Theresa-Reformed legal system-Established freedom of press-Allows freedom for worship for Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox Christians, and Jews-Abolished serfdom in Austria; peasants should be paid in cash for manual labor.-Reforms will be erased with his death.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/aa/Joseph_II.jpg


Catherine II (the Great) of Russia1729 – 1796 (r. 1762 – 1796)-Reformed Russia’s legal system based on the ideas of Montesquieu and Beccaria.-Wanted religious toleration and the abolishment of torture and death penalty, but her commission would not pass these reforms.-Originally wanted to abolish serfdom, but the serf revolt of 1773 changed her mind.


Expansion of Austria, Prussia and Russia in the 18c




The Thirteen Colonies


Effects of the Seven Years’ War (French & Indian War) on Great Britain

1. It increased her colonial empire in the Americas.2. It greatly enlarged England’s debt.3. Britain’s contempt for colonials created bitter feelings.

Therefore, Great Britain felt that a major reorganization of its American Empire was necessary!


1. It united them against a common enemy for the first time.2. It created a socializing experience for all colonials who participated.3. It created bitter feelings toward the British that would only intensify.

Effects of the Seven Years’ War (French & Indian War) on the Colonies


Boston Tea Party - 1773


The American “Philosophes”

John AdamsJohn Adams(1745-(1745-1826)1826) Ben FranklinBen Franklin

(1706-1790)(1706-1790)

ThomasThomasJeffersonJefferson

(1743-1826)(1743-1826)


The Declaration of Independence - 1776

We hold these truths to be self-evident…that all menare created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.


American Revolutionary War: 1776 - 1781Reasons for colonists’ success:

1) Defending homeland = stronger motivation than British2) Mistakes by overconfident British generals3) Time on the colonists’ side… British can keep winning battles, but fighting an overseas war is expensive and becomes increasingly unpopular at home.


Weaknesses of theArticles of Confederation (1781 – 1789)

A unicameral Congress [9 of 13 votes to pass a law].13 out of 13 to amend.Representatives were frequently absent.Could not tax or raise armies.No executive or judicial branches.


Enlightenment Idea U.S. ConstitutionLocke: Govt.’s power comes from consent of governed

-Preamble begins “We the people of the United States”-Representative govt.-Limits govt. powers

Montesquieu: Separation of powers

-Federal system-Three branches-Checks and balances

Rousseau: Direct democracy - Public election of pres. and Congress

Voltaire: Free speech, religious toleration

- Bill of Rights provides freedom of speech and religion

Beccaria: Accused have rights, no torture

- Bill of Rights protects rights of accused and prohibits cruel and unusual punishment


The Legacy of the Enlightenment1. New forms of civil society arose –-- clubs,

salons, private academies, lending libraries, and professional / scientific organizations.

2. It established a materialistic tradition based on an ethical system derived solely from a naturalistic account of the human condition (the “Religion of Nature”).3. Reform, democracy, and republicanism had been placed irrevocably on the Western agenda.


The Legacy of the Enlightenment

6. 19c conservatives blamed it for the modern “egalitarian disease” (once reformers began to criticize established institutions, they didn’t know where and when to stop!)

4. Theoretically endowed with full civil and legal rights, the individual had come into existence as a political and social force to be reckoned with.

5. The democratic revolutions that began in America in 1776 and continued in Amsterdam, Brussels, and especially in Paris in the late 1780s’ put every Western government on the defensive.

Documents

The Age of Enlightenment and American Revolution (1707-1800) Chapter 18