1. The Enlightenment in Europe
Chapter 6
Section 2

2. Main Ideas
A revolution in intellectual activity changed Europeans’ view of government and society.
The various freedoms enjoyed in many countries today are a result of Enlightenment thinking.

3. Introduction New ways of thinking  reevaluating old notions
New insight into underlying beliefs regarding:
Government
Religion
Economics
Education

4. Enlightenment
Enlightenment – intellectual movement that stressed reason and thought and the power of individuals to solve problems.
a/k/a Age of Reason
Reached its height in the mid-1700s.
Changed many aspects of Western civilization

5. Two Views on Government
Hobbes’ Social Contract
Locke’s Natural Rights

6. Hobbes’ Social Contract
Horrors of the English Civil War convinced him that all humans were naturally:
Selfish & Wicked
Governments keep order
Without it  constant war
People needed to hand over rights to a strong ruler (absolute monarch).
They gained law & order, in exchange.
Known as social contract.

7. Locke’s Natural Rights
Believed people could learn from experience and improve themselves.
Criticized absolute monarchy
Favored self-government
People are born equal and free, with three natural rights:
Life
Liberty
Property

8. Natural Rights & Government
Purpose of government
Protect the people’s rights
If government doesn’t do so…
Citizens will overthrow it
Belief that government comes from people is the foundation of modern democracy.

9. The Philosophes Advocate Reason
Paris became the meeting place to discuss politics and ideas.
Philosophes = social critics of this period
Apply reason to all aspects of life.

10. Philosophes’ Five Concepts
Five concepts formed the core of their beliefs:
Reason – Truth could be discovered through reason or logical thinking
Nature – Natural was good and reasonable
Happiness – Seek well-being on earth
Progress – Society could be perfected
Liberty – Society can be set free

11. Voltaire Combats Intolerance
Used satire against the clergy, aristocrats & government.
Using irony & sarcasm
Fought for tolerance, reason, freedom of religious belief and freedom of speech
“I do not agree with a word you say but will defend to the death your right to say it.”

12. Montesquieu & the Separation of Powers
Montesquieu devoted himself to the study of political liberty.
Division of power among branches of government = separation of powers
Also, developed ideas about checks and balances
Both became the basis for the U.S. Constitution

13. Rousseau: Champion of Freedom
Committed to individual freedom
Argued civilization corrupted people’s natural goodness.
Government should be freely formed by the people and guided by the “general will” of society.
Direct Democracy
Rousseau’s ideas inspired many of the leaders of the French Revolution who overthrew the monarchy in 1789.

14. Women and the Enlightenment
Philosophes
Traditional view toward women
Rousseau believed that women should have an education.
HOWEVER, he believed they should be educated on how to be a helpful wife & mother.
Other men scolded women for reading novels.
Wickedness and idleness

15. Discussion Question
What roles are women expected to play in society today?
What about men?
Have the roles changed a lot?

16. Status of Women Mary Astell – writer
Addressed the lack of educational opportunities for women.
Argued for gender equality.
“If all men are born free, how is that all women are born slaves?”

17. Mary Wollstonecraft A Vindication of the Rights of Women
Argued women need education to become virtuous and useful.
Encouraged women to enter male dominated fields – medicine and politics

18. The Enlightenment Spreads
Chapter 6 Section 3

19. Enlightenment Spreads
Books
Magazines
Newspapers
Pamphlets
Political songs
Word of Mouth
All helped influence anything from art to government

20. Huge center for the Enlightenment
Paris
Huge center for the Enlightenment

21. A social gathering, typically held in a wealthy home
Salons
A social gathering, typically held in a wealthy home
Intellects met to discuss ideas

22. Marie-Therese Geoffrin
Influential Salon Hostess
She helped finance Denis Diderot’s first Encyclopedia project.

23. Baroque Dominated the style of art in the 1600s and 1700s.
Elaborate, grand, ornate design

24. Artistic style of the late 1700s
Neoclassical
Artistic style of the late 1700s
Bringing back classical ideas from Greece and Rome

25. Classical Music emerged
Mozart
Beethoven

26. Writing Writing also changed Everyday language Entertaining stories
Carefully crafted plots
Suspense
Explored characters’ thoughts and feelings

27. Britain and Its American Colonies
The American Colonies Grow
American colonies grow large and populous during 1600s, 1700s (economically & population)
1600s = pop. approx. 250,000
1750 = pop. approx million
Economically colonies thrive through trade with Europe
- Britain’s Navigation Act restricts that trade (1651) Colonists could not trade w/ other nations except Britain
- other trade laws add restrictions, taxes
Colonists had a lot of self government
Colonists identify less and less as British subjects

28. Americans Win Independence
British–Colonial Tensions Arise
Britain & American colonies win French and Indian War in 1763
Britain taxes colonists to help pay war debts
Colonists argue that British cannot tax them without their consent
Growing Hostility Leads to War
Colonists protest tea tax with “Boston Tea Party” in 1773
Colonists meet in Philadelphia to address British policies (1774)
British and Americans exchange fire at Lexington and Concord in 1775

29. Americans Win Independence (con’t)
The Influence of the Enlightenment
Colonial leaders push for independence, rely on Enlightenment ideas
Declaration of Independence—document justifying colonial rebellion
Leader Thomas Jefferson writes Declaration, uses ideas of Locke
1775 – 1781: colonists fought a war w/ Britain (American Revolutionary War)
Success for the Colonists
Despite British military might, colonists have advantages:
- motivating cause of freedom
- French assistance
- war’s expense for Britain
British surrender at Yorktown in 1781; colonists win the war

30. Americans Create a Republic
W eak National Government
Articles of Confederation set government plan for new republic
Articles create legislature only, no executive or judicial branches
Result is weak national government fails to provide unity and order
A New Constitution
Leaders call Constitutional Convention in 1787 to revise articles
Group instead creates a new government under U.S. Constitution

31. U.S. Constitution
Constitution contains many political ideas of the Enlightenment
Montesquieu ideas of 3 branches of government with checks and balances
- Federal system (separation of powers between the central and state governments)
Locke – power in the hands of the people
Voltarie – freedom of speech and religion
Beccaria - fair system of justice
All added to the Bill of Rights (Amendments 1 – 10)

32. U.S. Constitution The Federal System
Constitution creates three branches of government
Provides checks and balances—ensures branches share power equally
Promotes federal system—power divided between nation and states
The Bill of Rights
Some fear too much national power, few protections of rights
Leaders win support for Constitution by adding a
Bill of Rights
- ten amendments to Constitution that protect freedoms