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The Enlightenment_ Crash Course European History #18.mp4Enlightened Monarchs_ Crash Course European History #19.mp4The Enlightenment Philosophers for Middle Schoolers.mp4Starting in the 1600s, a group of people in Europe began to think about the world in a different way. That new way of thinking led to a time period known as the Age of Enlightenment, often called the Enlightenment. Read the passage about the Enlightenment.
The "Age of Enlightenment" refers to a period of change in the way some educated men and women viewed the world and the role of humans within it. These educated men and women wanted people to use reason and experience, not traditional ideas, to make decisions and come to new conclusions. Enlightenment thinkers argued that humans were capable of using reason to make progress and improve people's lives. Their ideas led to new ways of thinking about topics such as government, religion, and people's rights.
The Enlightenment was influenced by several earlier European movements. Those movements had changed the way many people viewed the world and the role of humans within it. For example, Renaissance scholars argued people have positive qualities and are capable of great achievements. Leaders in the Protestant Reformation encouraged people to challenge the power of religious groups. And during the Scientific Revolution, thinkers claimed people should use new inventions to make observations in order to understand the world and universe.
The power of the individual
Starting in the 1300s, people began to view humans in a different way. This new way of thinking was centered around the idea that individual people were important and capable of great acts. That idea influenced later movements, such as the Protestant Reformation, the Scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment.
The Scientific Revolution in particular had a large influence on the ideas of the Enlightenment. The Scientific Revolution was a period when people began trying to better understand the world through asking questions, making observations, and using reason.
Newton's revolutionary theories
Isaac Newton's theories changed the way scientists understood the world. Below are some of his accomplishments:
He used math to explain how objects moved on earth and in space.
He explained rainbows and used math to measure sound waves.
He even developed a new form of math called calculus.
His discoveries made him a hero in England! He was elected to be a government representative, became a professor at a university, and was even knighted by the king!
Paris: the center of the Enlightenment
The city of Paris, France, became one of the most active cities of the Enlightenment. Paris had many extremely wealthy people, but it also had many people living in poor conditions. These conditions were caused, in part, by government leaders overtaxing the poor. In response, a growing number of people in France began to support Enlightenment ideas that encouraged government reform and supported people's rights.
Many Enlightenment thinkers believed that parts of society, especially religion and government, limited humans' abilities to use reason and make progress. So, they often wrote about these parts of society.
These Enlightenment ideas focus on topics related to government.
They are about how governments treat people, limit people's rights, and give power to rulers:
Using reason can free people and protect them from unfair government treatment.
All people are born with rights that no one, including powerful rulers, can take away.
These Enlightenment ideas focus on religion.
They include topics such as the role of God in people's lives and how religious ideas should be viewed:
People should use reason to question religious ideas and practices that were passed down over hundreds of years.
The universe and humans were designed by God to be perfect. God set the universe into motion but is no longer involved in humans' lives.
God as a watchmaker
Some Enlightenment thinkers held a religious belief called Deism. Deists believe that God designed the universe like the watchmaker might design a watch.
They believe God created the universe to work like a perfect machine. Just as a watchmaker would start a watch and then let it run, Deists believe that God created the universe and then set it in motion. Once in motion, Deists believe God rarely becomes involved in the lives of humans or events on earth.
Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson are some examples of well-known Enlightenment thinkers that supported Deist beliefs.
Many Enlightenment thinkers believed that people should have certain rights and the government should protect those rights. For example, John Locke wrote an essay where he claimed that a government's power actually comes from the people it rules. He also argued that the government's role is to protect the natural rights that he believed people were born with.
How did John Locke view people?
John Locke claimed that each individual was a tabula rasa, or blank slate, at birth. A slate is a writing surface that students used instead of paper. His blank-slate theory stated that humans were born with no knowledge or understanding of the world. He believed that all knowledge was gained through observation and interacting with society. So, if society could be improved using Enlightenment ideas, then human knowledge and understanding would also improve with it.
Many Enlightenment thinkers were inspired by Locke's ideas about natural rights. They used his ideas to write about other specific rights and freedoms that they thought people should have.
Voltaire and the Calas case
During the Enlightenment, the French government supported Catholicism. But some French citizens were Protestants, another type of Christian.
In 1762, a Protestant man named Jean Calas was accused of killing his son. Calas was innocent, but a rumor claimed he killed his son for trying to become a Catholic. Calas was tortured and executed in public. Throughout the experience, he continued to insist he was innocent.
Voltaire heard about this case and believed it showed evidence that the government was unfair and abusive. He and several other Enlightenment thinkers wrote essays to prove Calas was falsely accused because of his Protestant faith. These essays became so popular that two years later, the king of France overturned the sentence and gave money to Calas's family as an apology.
One of the main ideas of the Enlightenment was that all people had certain rights and freedoms, such as the right to vote and to be treated fairly by the government. But in practice, most Enlightenment thinkers only supported these rights for certain kinds of people. For example, male Enlightenment thinkers often argued that these rights didn't apply to women. In response, many female Enlightenment thinkers argued that rights and freedoms applied to women, too.
"Women are born free and remain equal to men"
In 1791, the king of France approved a new constitution which defined the rights of citizens, including the right to vote. However, in the new constitution, only men over the age of 25 were allowed to be citizens. In response, Olympe de Gouges published the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of the Female Citizen.
De Gouges's declaration was modeled off of a 1789 document called the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. The first article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man stated, "men are born and remain free and equal in rights." So, de Gouges declared, "women are born free and remain equal to men." She then described the rights that women should have in French society, including participating in politics like men.
De Gouges's Declaration caused disagreements in France. She also published other works on topics that many people disagreed with, such as the role of the king and slavery. In 1793 de Gouges was executed for her ideas.
These people would likely support Enlightenment ideas:
I am a printer and I am taxed twice as much as wealthy landowners. This law doesn't treat everyone equally, so it's unfair. I should have the right to vote to make tax laws more fair. This person was taxed unfairly, so he would likely support Enlightenment ideas about fair laws for all people.
I am a member of a Christian group that has been mistreated in European society. I believe that all people, including women, should be free to practice their own religion. This person faced unfair treatment for her religion, so she likely would support Enlightenment ideas such as the freedom of religious choice.
These people would likely oppose Enlightenment ideas:
I am a religious leader who teaches about Christian beliefs. I believe that all knowledge comes from the Bible, and people should not have the right to question that knowledge. This person believed that all truths came from the Bible, so he would oppose Enlightenment ideas such as using reason instead of traditional religious texts.
I am a king with absolute power. I believe no one has the right to question my decisions because I have the divine, or God given, right to rule. This person wanted absolute, or complete, power, so he would likely oppose Enlightenment ideas such as the right to speak out against the government.
Who benefited most from Enlightenment ideas?
Enlightenment ideas mostly helped wealthy members of society who were not landowners. Before the Enlightenment, European society was divided into two main groups—wealthy landowners and everyone else. During that time period, the only way to gain wealth and power was to own land.
But by the 1700s, a new class of wealthy merchants and craftsmen had emerged. This new group was eventually called the bourgeoisie (boor-zhwa-ZEE). The bourgeoisie, in some cases, had just as much wealth as landowners, but they had very little political power. Many members of this group used Enlightenment ideas to gain more power.
By the late 1700s, Enlightenment ideas had spread across Europe and into the Americas. Below are some adapted quotations from four important figures in the American colonies.
Abigail Adams: an American Enlightenment thinker
Abigail Adams was an educated woman from a wealthy family who often communicated her thoughts on government and people's rights. Most often, she spoke out against the practice of slavery and supported education and rights for women. Below are two quotes from letters she wrote to her husband, John Adams:
"I wish most sincerely there was not a slave in this [region]. . . . [We] fight ourselves for what we are daily robbing and [taking] from those who have as good a right to freedom as we have."
"If we mean to have heroes, [government leaders, and scholars], we should have learned women. . . . Great benefit must arise from [written] accomplishments in women."
Enlightenment ideas also influenced the United States' founding documents.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Many declarations have been written that outline rights that all people should have. For example, in 1948, an international peacekeeping group called the United Nations drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It lists rights that all people around the world should be granted. These are some of the rights included in the declaration:
the right to celebrate holidays
the right to have food and housing
the right to marry whom you choose
Today, there is even a special day to celebrate international human rights! It is on December 10th, the day the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was first published. How do you think Enlightenment thinkers would feel about International Human Rights day?
Today, people disagree about how well the United States' founding documents actually apply the ideas of the Enlightenment. Compare the following statements showing two different viewpoints.
Statement one
American thinkers based the founding documents on Enlightenment ideas. For example, the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution both talk about natural rights, such as freedom of speech and fair government treatment. The ideas of the Enlightenment live on through these documents today.
Statement two
The founding documents fail to truly include the ideas of the Enlightenment since they don't treat all people equally. For example, the Declaration of Independence describes Native Americans as savages. The Constitution only mentions African American people to make sure they had no voting rights. Neither document gives any rights or freedoms to women.
The ideas of the Enlightenment were influenced by the Renaissance, Protestant Reformation, and Scientific Revolution movements. During the Age of Enlightenment, people began to use reason and their experiences to come to new conclusions. They believed that this new way of thinking could improve humankind. Enlightenment thinkers argued that people were born with natural rights and that people should be able to choose their own religion and vote on laws and government leaders.
The Age of Enlightenment today
New ideas and discoveries during the Age of Enlightenment impact many parts of present-day society. Here are some ways the ideas from this time period might affect your day-to-day life. Do you think the Enlightenment has had an impact on your life?
The Enlightenment helped to make new scientific practices more popular.
The Enlightenment encouraged individuals to speak out against mistreatment.
The Enlightenment supported the idea that education is important.
The Enlightenment promoted the idea that people should be involved in government.
The Enlightenment was a time period when people in Europe began using reason and experience to make their own decisions, rather than simply following traditions.
Another kind of "enlightenment"
The word "enlightenment" does not only refer to a European movement. It is also used to refer to a religious experience. Buddhist leader Siddhartha Gautama described bodhi, or "enlightenment," as the experience of being fully aware and knowledgeable about the universe. He believed achieving enlightenment would end a person's suffering.
During the Enlightenment, people in Europe started to use reason, experience, and critical thinking to question traditional ideas about society. For example, most European countries at the time were ruled by kings, who could be unfair and abuse their power. During the Enlightenment, many people began to challenge those kings whose power was based in tradition, not based in their ability to govern well.
The Age of Absolutism
In some parts of Europe during the Enlightenment, kings had absolute, or complete, power over the countries they ruled. This time is often called the Age of Absolutism. During the Age of Absolutism, kings sometimes took advantage of their power and wealth.
Many people disagreed about how governments should be organized. They debated what power, responsibilities, and rights people and their governments should have. Some thinkers viewed government as part of a social contract, or an agreement between different groups to cooperate so that everyone benefits. The text below describes two English thinkers' ideas about the social contract between people and the government.
How did Thomas Hobbes view people?
Hobbes lived through a conflict called the English Civil War. During and after the war, England experienced many years of chaos and violence.
Hobbes's ideas about human nature were heavily influenced by the events of the English Civil War. During this time, he wrote a book called The Leviathan that discussed the way he viewed humans. He claimed:
All humans are selfish and power hungry.
Only a powerful leader can stop humans from behaving this way.
Without a powerful leader, society would break down into chaos, and humans' lives would be "nasty, brutish, and short."
John Locke's ideas became popular in England and also spread to other parts of Europe, such as present-day France, Italy, and Germany. Enlightenment thinkers in those places were inspired by Locke's writings and used them to develop their own ideas about government. Read the information below about some of the ways Enlightenment ideas were discussed and spread throughout Europe.
Men and women joined organizations called Masonic lodges. Members met to discuss Enlightenment ideas and perform secret rituals.
Academies, or groups of scholars, met to study new scientific discoveries and Enlightenment ideas. They were often funded by kings.
Wealthy women hosted social gatherings called salons in their homes where Enlightenment thinkers heard and read about new ideas.
Music and art during the Enlightenment
As Enlightenment ideas spread, they began to influence other parts of society, such as music and art. Here are some examples of how Enlightenment ideas affected these other parts of European life:
Famous composer Mozart became a member of a Masonic lodge and discussed Enlightenment ideas.
Enlightenment thinker Rousseau also wrote operas, or a type of musical play.
Artist William Hogarth created paintings that showed the lives of everyday people, not just the rich and powerful.
Changes in European society also encouraged the spread of Enlightenment ideas about government. But there were challenges that made it hard to spread Enlightenment texts and ideas.
Diderot's Encyclopedia
As more and more people were learning to read in Europe, Enlightenment thinkers were able to sell more of their written works. One Enlightenment thinker named Denis Diderot decided to create an encyclopedia that he hoped would contain all the world's knowledge. His goal was to communicate this information to as many people as possible and preserve this knowledge for future generations.
The Encyclopedia was made up of over 70,000 articles written by more than 140 people! The articles covered a wide variety of subjects, including some of these topics:
Home decorating
Papermaking
Human anatomy
Candlemaking
Rousseau takes the prize!
Today, Rousseau is one of the most famous thinkers of the Enlightenment. But in 1750, he was a relatively unknown musician and teacher. One day he saw an announcement for an essay competition hosted by the Dijon Academy, asking for writings about the effect of science and art on society. Rousseau describes being struck with inspiration: "within an instant of reading this [advertisement], I saw another universe and became another man." Rousseau's essay won first prize and earned him the attention of many important thinkers of the time.
Several years later, Rousseau submitted another essay to the Dijon Academy's competition. But the judges weren't impressed - it was so long that they didn't even finish reading it!
As an Enlightenment thinker, the Baron de Montesquieu is most well known for his ideas about how government power should be organized. He claimed that governments should divide up power into three branches, or groups. This idea became known as "separation of powers." With a separation of powers, no one person or group controls all parts of a government. Each branch has separate duties and equal amounts of power. Read the following summarized passage from Montesquieu's book that describes why separation of powers is needed.
When the power to make and enforce laws are united in the same person, or in the same governing group, there can be no liberty.
There is also no liberty if the courts' powers are not separated from the power to make and enforce laws. If the courts' powers were joined with the lawmaking powers, the freedoms and rights of the people would be in danger. If they were joined with those who enforced the law, the courts might behave with violence and cruelty.
What was Montesquieu's real name?
When the Baron of Montesquieu was born, he was named Charles-Louis de Secondat. But as an adult, he was often called the Baron of Montesquieu. A baron is a person who owns and controls large amounts of land. He was called the Baron of Montesquieu because he controlled an area in southern France known as Montesquieu. He was also the baron of a place named La Brède. Controlling two baronies made Montesquieu wealthy and powerful!
Rousseau believed that Montesquieu's idea about separating powers did not do enough to limit government power. Instead, he argued that government should be organized to make sure the people had all the power to make decisions. Read the following ideas from one of Rousseau's books.
There is a difference between a country and its government. The country can exist on its own. The government exists only through the power of the people.
I believe that the power of free people to represent themselves should not be taken away.
The people who write laws don't actually have the right to pass those laws. The people have that right, and they can't give it away. The only way to know what the general population wants from the government is to put it to a free vote of the people.
Montesquieu and Rousseau both had strong views about how governments should be structured. But they often disagreed with each other.
By the late 1700s, Enlightenment ideas helped shape the way some governments were designed and reformed. For example, after the Revolutionary War, Americans created a new government that included some Enlightenment ideas. The plan for this new government was the United States Constitution.
The Enlightenment and the United States government
Many Enlightenment ideas continue to influence American politics today. Look at some examples of present-day government practices that were encouraged during the Enlightenment:
People can vote for leaders, such as a city mayor, lawmakers, or even the president. They can also vote on some laws.
People can peacefully assemble to protest government actions they disagree with.
The United States Supreme Court justices hear cases about laws to make sure they follow the Constitution.
Members of the United States Congress are elected to make laws they believe will improve people's lives.
In some parts of Europe, powerful rulers became interested in Enlightenment ideas and, in some cases, used them to reform government practices. These rulers became known as Enlightened Despots. Despots are rulers with complete power.
The reforms of Frederick the Great
Frederick the Great was one of the most active Enlightened Despots of Europe at this time. He met with many Enlightenment thinkers, was educated as a musician, and joined a Masonic lodge.
Among his reforms, he banned torturing people accused of a crime, established new elementary schools, and supported new scientific study of plant life. Frederick the Great believed that it was his duty to help his people and stated "I know well that the rich have many [supporters] but the poor only have one, and that is I."
In France, people used Enlightenment ideas to call for government reforms, which helped to encourage the start of the French Revolution.
The Reign of Terror
During the French Revolution, a new government was created that tried to apply Enlightenment ideas. But the leaders of this new government feared that other people were trying to overthrow it. To protect their power, the leaders of the new French government created an environment of fear and violence called the Reign of Terror.
The "National Razor"
During the Reign of Terror, anyone who spoke out against the new government could be beheaded using a machine with a sharp blade called a guillotine. It was used so often that it became known as the "National Razor." Eventually, the guillotine was even used to kill one of the leaders who helped to start the Reign of Terror.
Many historians claim that the Age of Enlightenment ended around 1800. But the ideas of the Enlightenment continued to impact political activity around the world for decades to come. For example, after the American and French Revolutions, many other countries began to apply Enlightenment ideas and start revolutions. In parts of Latin America, many mistreated and enslaved native groups overthrew colonial powers to create new governments.
Latin American Revolutionaries
In the early 1800s, many parts of Latin America revolted against European countries that had colonized them for hundreds of years. Most of these revolutions were long and deadly. But by the mid 1800s, almost all of Latin America had gained independence. Some countries even ended the practice of slavery and helped to create governments that encouraged rights, such as voting. Below are some important figures in these revolutions:
Toussaint Louverture helped to end slavery in Haiti. His actions helped Haiti gain independence from both Spain and France.
Agustín de Iturbide helped to end Spanish rule in Mexico. But afterwards, he crowned himself as emperor and was eventually killed.
Simón Bolívar was introduced to Enlightenment ideas in Europe and helped several countries gain independence from Spanish rule.
The Enlightenment was a time period when people in Europe began using reason to better understand the world. They also developed new ways of thinking about topics such as government, religion, and people's rights.
These ideas impacted governments in Europe and the Americas in a variety of ways. For example, John Locke claimed that all people have natural rights and that the government's role is to protect those rights. That was one idea that influenced the writers of the U.S. Constitution. Montesquieu believed that governments should separate their power so no one person or group would be too powerful. That idea helped inspire the United States Constitution and the French Revolution.
Is the Enlightenment over?
People disagree about how long the Age of Enlightenment lasted. Some people claim that it ended in the early 1800s while others argue that it never ended.
In fact, many of the ideas that Enlightenment thinkers discussed in the 1700s are still being discussed today! Here are some of the questions that are still talked about in today's society. Which are you most interested in debating?
What are natural rights and who should be granted natural rights?
How much power should the people have in making government decisions?
How should citizens interact with government leaders?
What does it mean to have religious freedom?
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