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Biography - Montesquieu
Montesquieu was born in France in 1689 to a noble family at a time when there was great anger toward the king, Louis XIV, for his unsuccessful wars and high taxes. As a young man, he moved to Paris to study law. However, he was not interested in working as a lawyer or a judge. Because of the wealth he inherited from his family, Montesquieu spent his time on travel to England, studying the history of ancient Rome and writing about government. In 1748, after 17 years of reading, writing and revising, he published his book On the Spirit of the Laws, which was more than 1000 pages long. In the book, Montesquieu attempted to look at the government scientifically. He believed that the king’s power was dangerous but thought that a strong nobility (the nobles) could balance the king's power. He admired England because the strength of the nobles limited the control of the king. Montesquieu wanted to make sure that no part of the government grew too strong. He said the best way to preserve freedom was to divide the power of government so that one had all of the power. He said that power should be divided so that the people who make laws would be different from the people who carry out laws and those that judge the laws. Source #1 - The following is an excerpt from The Spirit of the Laws, written by Montesquieu in 1748
Although the forms of states – monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy – were united in English government, the powers of government were separated from one another. There can be no liberty where the executive, legislative, and judicial powers are united in one person or body of persons, because such concentration is bound to result in arbitrary despotism.
Biography - Adam Smith
Adam Smith was born in 1723 in Scotland. Smith was a quiet and absent minded individual who worked as a college professor and enjoyed reading books in his own library. While he was often awkward in social situations, he was known as an interesting and lively teacher. In 1764, while traveling around Europe, he met many other Enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire.
In 1776, Smith published his book called The Wealth of Nations. His book had a big effect on economic thinking. In the book, Smith explains why he doesn't like mercantilism, which was used by governments across Europe. In mercantilism, the government controls the economy so that it can collect lots of gold and silver. Smith did not see the gold and silver as wealth for the country because the wealth mostly helped the monarch. Instead, he thought a society's ability to produce things, like food and goods, was a better indicator of a society's wealth, because everyone would benefit from having more food and goods. Therefore, a society that could produce more was wealthier than one that had lots of gold and silver.
Smith believed that wealth was created through the hard work of people. He believed in a “free market economy,” where individual people are free to make their own decisions about how to earn and spend their money. Smith said that a free market economy would make a society wealthy because people would work hard for their own benefit, and they would do work which improves the lives of other people, which would make society richer. Smith believed that the laws of economics worked as an “invisible hand” to guide individuals to make decisions that create the best economic outcome.
Source #2 - The following is a quote from Adam Smith about how the economy should function from The Wealth of Nations (1776)
It is not from the benevolence [goodness] of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity, but to their self-love [self-interest], and never talk to them of our necessities but of their advantages.
Biography Voltaire
Biography - Denis Diderot
Voltaire was born in France in 1694 and spent his life working as a writer on topics ranging from poetry and plays to studies of history and science. As a young man, Voltaire was often imprisoned by the government or exiled from France because of his writings, which were critical of government policy. In 1725, while living in exile in Britain, Voltaire studied the country's freedom of speech and religion and its system of constitutional monarchy (a king whose power is limited by a constitution). When he returned to France three years later, he published a collection of essays in which he argued that the British system of government was better than the French system. This caused outrage throughout France. While unpopular with the French government, Voltaire was invited by Frederick the Great, the King of Prussia, to live and work in Prussia. Frederick was inspired by many of the Enlightenment ideas and wanted to improve the lives of his subjects. He supported the arts and sciences, abolished torture and censorship, and reformed Prussia’s legal system. However, after a few years in Prussia, Frederick ordered Voltaire leave Prussia after Voltaire criticized Frederick’s advisers. Unable to return to France, Voltaire moved to Switzerland where he wrote his most important book, Candide, about whether the world was a positive, progressive place, or whether it was full of cruelty and stupidity. Voltaire also spent time writing in support of tolerance and fighting for people who were victims of intolerance. In 1763, Voltaire wrote a "Treatise on Tolerance" which argued that freedom of religion and freedom of speech will always need to be protected by society's lawmakers.
Source # 3 - Voltaire wrote, "What we find in books is like the fire in our hearths. We fetch it from our neighbors, we kindle it at home, we communicate it to others, and it becomes the property of all."
Denis Diderot was born in France in 1713. He attended the University of Paris and worked as a writer and tutor. At age 34, Diderot began the process of putting together and editing the massive Encyclopédie or “Encyclopedia”. This encyclopedia collected the thoughts and works of Enlightenment thinkers in one source and then spread the ideas across Europe. Many Enlightenment thinkers, such as Voltaire, wrote articles for the Encyclopedia. In addition to written articles, the Encyclopedia is also famous for its 3000 pages of illustrations showing everything from medical procedures to technical inventions and natural science. The Encyclopédie was revolutionary because it made information that had previously only been available to the wealthy available to everyone. Diderot said the purpose of the Encyclopédie was "to further knowledge and, by so doing, strike a resounding blow against reactionary forces in church and state." The massive set of 20 volumes that made up the Encyclopédie were sold to wealthy individuals and small private libraries where the public could read it for a small fee. The impact of the Encyclopédie was widespread Europe and by 1789, the start of the French Revolution, more than 25,000 copies had been sold. Despite the success of the Encyclopédie, Diderot was not able to make a living off of the sales of the Encyclopédie. The Empress of Russia, Catherine the Great, supported Diderot by giving him a salary and buying his library. However, she did allow him to keep his library during his lifetime. After his death, it was sent to Russia and became part of the National Library of Russia.
Source # 4 - The following is response King Louis XV, the king of France from 1715 to 1774 to the creation of Diderot’s Encyclopédie.
His Majesty has observed that in these two volumes they have dared to include ideas tending to destroy the authority of the king, to form a spirit of independence and revolution, and hidden in obscure language, to raise the foundation of error, moral corruption, irreligion and unbelief.
Classwork Source # 1 - The following are illustrations from Diderot's Encyclopedie. The first shows the process for print setting, which is how wooden blocks of letters would be arranged to print the text of a book. The second shows the process for printing a book.
Classwork Source # 2 - Painting of a Salon - a Salon was meeting where wealthy people would invite thinkers together to share their ideas.
Classwork Source # 3 - The following is an image of a coffee shop during the Enlightenment. Coffee shops often served as gathering points for the Enlightenment thinkers of the middle class.
Classwork Source # 4 - Table showing the changes in literacy rates in different European Countries
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