1. The Enlightenment

2. Thomas Hobbes “People are cruel, greedy and selfish by nature.”
He said that if people were not strictly controlled they would fight, rob, and oppress one another.
“Life without laws or control would be solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”

3. Thomas Hobbes
Believed that a powerful government and absolute rulers were necessary to keep people civilized.
In his book Leviathan, he explained that people needed a strong government.
Only a powerful govt. can impose order and compel obedience.
Hobbes supported the Stuart Kings of England.

4. John Locke Locke and Hobbes had different opinions about human rights
Thought people were basically reasonable and moral
People are born with natural rights– Life, Liberty and Property

5. John Locke
In Two Treaties of Government, Locke argued that people should make a government that protects their rights
Thought that the best government had limited power and was accepted by citizens
Locke argued against absolute monarchy and sided with Parliament

6. John Locke
“If the government fails its obligations or violates the people’s natural rights, the people have the right to overthrow the government.”

7. Baron de Montesquieu
He studied the different governments of Europe and also Native American tribes
He published The Spirit of the Laws.

8. Baron de Montesquieu Admired limited monarchy
Believed separation of powers was the best way to protect liberty.
Favored the system of checks and balances.

9. Baron de Montesquieu
40 years after his book appeared in France, the ideas of separation of powers and checks and balances were written into the Constitution of the United States.

10. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
He believed that people in their natural state were basically good.

11. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
He said, the natural innocence was corrupted by the evils of society, and the uneven distribution of property.

13. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
1762, He wrote, The Social Contract,
Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.
The chains are society which control the way people behave.

14. Adam Smith Scottish economist Author of the Wealth of Nations
Strong Supporter of Laissez Faire– or the idea that government should NOT interfere with the economy

15. Adam Smith
He argued that a free market, or the natural forces of supply and demand, should operate business.

16. Adam Smith
Thought manufacturing, trade, wages, profits, and economic growth were linked to supply and demand.

17. Voltaire French Philosopher Real name: Francios-Marie Arouet
Defended Freedom of Speech and thought
Said the Holy Roman Empire was not Holy, Roman, or an empire

18. Voltaire “My trade is to say what I think.”
He targeted corrupt officials, detested slave trade, and deplored religious prejudice.
“I do not agree with a word you say, but I defend to the death your right to say it.”

19. Denis Diderot Worked 25 years to produce a 28 volume encyclopedia.
He wanted to change the general way of thinking.
The Encyclopedia articles denounced slavery, praised freedom of expression, and urged education for all.
The pope threatened to excommunicate Catholics who bought or read volumes.

20. Mary Wollstonecraft Wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
Called for the same education for girls and boys.
Only, education could give women the tools they needed.

21. Censorship
Government and the Church tried to preserve and defend the old ways.
They waged a war of censorship, burning books and imprisoning writers.
Only the Netherlands allowed freedom of the press.

22. Censorship
Where books are burned– people will be too.

23. Salons
Literature, arts, science and philosophy were regular topics in salons, informal social gatherings where people exchanged ideas.

24. Music
Johann Sebastian Bach, a German Lutheran, wrote complex religious works
George Frederick Handel wrote Water Pieces and the Messiah
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, from Sulzburg, wrote and composed brilliant operas, graceful symphonies, and also religious music.

25. Eugene Delacroix