The Enlightenment

• Finding a new way to rule without absolutism.

• Radical ideas!– Equal rights for men!

• A few thought it should it should also be equal rights for women.

– But only a few!

– Limits on power!

Remember the Scientific Revolution?

• Changed the way people looked at the world in the 1500s –1600s.

• In the 1700s knowledge learned in science was being used to change everyone’s lives.

A cure for the greatest killer (Don’t write)

• Smallpox!• First recorded 10,000

B.C.E• Had a 20 – 60%

mortality rate for adults.

• 80% mortality rate for children.– 1/3 of victims blinded.– Almost all scarred.

Edward Jenner (Don’t Write)

• Noted that milkmaids never got smallpox if they had been infected with cowpox.– Similar to smallpox,

but less deadly.– Tested it by taking

puss from milkmaid’s Sarah Nelmes hand infected by the cow Blossom.

Edward Jenner (Don’t Write)

• Scraped the puss onto lesions on 8 year old James Phipps arms.

• James Phipps became ill with a fever and achiness.

• Recovered and never caught smallpox.

Edward Jenner (Don’t Write)

• Eventually shots were developed.

• 1980 – smallpox was ERADICATED from the world.– People born before

1973 carry the scar on their upper arm for the vaccine.

Jenner’s success convinced others of the power of human reason

• NATURAL LAW:– Rules discoverable by

reason for science.– WHY COULDN’T THE

SAME BE USED FOR:• Political Problems.• Economic Problems.• Social Problems.

The Rise of the Salons (Don’t Write)

• Gatherings where educated people could freely exchange ideas.

• Use reason to try to solve problems.

• More private than coffee houses.

• Some discussions could get you arrested, so invitations were necessary to join a salon.

The “superstars” of the Enlightenment: POLITICS

Thomas Hobbes

John Locke

Both were speaking from their families experiences during the English Civil War.

(Roundheads v. Cavaliers)

The Enlightenment: Thomas Hobbes

• Believed that human nature in a “natural state” is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.

• A SOCIAL CONTRACT – an agreement between the ruler and the people was needed to protect life.

John Locke’s ideas contrasted Hobbes

• Believed that people were reasonable and moral.

• All people had NATURAL RIGHTS at birth.– Life – Liberty – Property

John Locke

• A government has an obligation to the people it governs.

• If government fails and violates people’s natural rights …– People had the right

to OVERTHROW that government.

The Philosophes: Improving Society

• Montesquieu• Voltaire• Diderot• Rousseau

Montesquieu: A noble who spoke for democracy

• 1689 –1755• Studying history

made him aware absolutism was not right.

• The only way to prevent dictators was to divide up power so no one person could be too powerful.

The Leader of the PhilosophesVOLTAIRE

• Real name Francois-Arouet (1694 – 1778)

• Using sarcasm and wit he criticised “enemies of freedom.”– Corrupt government– Idle aristocrats– Religious prejudice– Slave trade– Inequality, injustice,

superstition.

Voltaire

• His writing was the “Jon Stewart Daily News” and “SNL” of his time.

• Twice imprisoned, books burned in public, exiled from France.

• IMMENSELY popular in the salons.– Catherine the Great built a

palace for him and invited him to live in Russia.

• The Hermitage.

Diderot: The Encyclopedia

• Created 28 volume set of books “to change the general way of thinking” by explaining topics such as government, philosophy, and religion.

Diderot’s Encyclopedia

• Articles by the leading Philosophes:– Explained science– Praised freedom of

expression– Denounced slavery– Urged education– Denounced Divine

Right Theory.– 4,000 copies sold

between 1751 – 1789.

Rousseau: The Social Contract

• Jean Jacques Rousseau:– People are naturally good,

but society corrupts them.• Interesting “test” for his

theory!

– Society puts too many limitations on people.

– Some government needed – but should be minimal.

– Only a FREELY ELECTED government had the right to rule over the “general will.”

The Slogan of the Philosophes (Don’t Write)

• Free and Equal.• BUT DID THAT

APPLY TO WOMEN??

Women’s Rights (Don’t Write)

• The Enlightenment did “discuss” that women had natural rights.

• BUT rights were limited to home and family.

Mary Wollstonecraft

• 1792: A VINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN.– Women should be free to

decide what is in their own self-interest without depending on a husband.

– Girls, as well as boys, needed an education to have the tools to participate with men in public life.

• Work was banned and ridiculed for over a hundred years.

Adam Smith: A New Economic Thinking

• 1700s: The government (king) decided what to produce, how to produce and for whom to produce. – Decisions were usually

what made the king / nobles wealthy!

– MERCANTILISM

Adam Smith: FREE MARKETS

• Using Natural Law – Smith believed in LAISSEZ-FAIRE – allowing businesses and individuals to decide what to produce, how to produce and for whom to produce. – More products, better

prices, more profit for people!

– Little government interference.

America’s Break With England

April 1775: Warfare breaks out between the 13 colonies and British troops.

-Lexington and Concord.

-George Washington becomes the general of the army.

July 1776: The Declaration of Independence.

The Declaration of Independence:The influence of the Enlightenment

• Government’s obligation is to protect “life, liberty and property.”

• The right of the people to abolish unjust governments.

Signing of the Declaration of Independence

The American Revolution

• The 13 Colonies were up against one of the greatest military powers.

• They needed ALLIES!• France 1777.

– General LaFayette.

The American Revolution Ends

• 1781: The Battle of Yorktown, Virginia.

• Washington blocks the British army by land.

• The French block the ocean escape. – TECHNICALLY: The British

didn’t surrender!

• The Treaty of Paris ends the War and establishes the United States of America in 1783.

Creating a Government: The Enlightenment’s Influence on

America• The US Constitution:

– WE THE PEOPLE create the power.

• Limits on power.• Dividing up power

between executive, legislative and judicial branches.

• THE BILL OF RIGHTS:– Promises of limits on

power of what government can or can’t do to people.

But would the Enlightenment’s influence be in Europe?

• The common people and the peasants had had hundreds of years of unjust absolute rule.

• They were very, very, very angry at so much abuse.

The Spark of the Enlightenment is about to set off a massive explosion