1. The Enlightenment - The Age of Reason

2. Enlightenment Beginnings
For hundreds of years, religion was the central authority in
Europe, as well as most of the civilizations of the world
During the 18th-century, some European thinkers began to question
the roles and authority of God, and the kings/nobles that ruled them
Due to colonialism, capitalism, and industrialization, a strong middle class
Had been developing in Europe—particularly in Great Britain and France
These gentry classes had been growing in wealth and power for more than
two centuries, and by the late 18th century, they were ready to run the gov.
Besides their desire to bypass the Divine Right of Kings and noble authority,
some ideas from England the France influenced their thoughts and actions

3. New Political Ideas
BY the 1600s, an Englishman named John Locke had seen many,
many corrupt kings and lords misuse and abuse their power
He came up with two major Enlightenment concepts heavily
argued for by the gentry: natural rights and consent of the governed
Natural Rights – all humans are born with the rights to life, liberty,
and property – all of which should be protected by the gov.
Consent of the Governed – if the gov. is ever taking any of these natural
rights from you, the people have the right or duty to overthrow that gov.
Additionally, a written document (constitution) should have a set
of rules or limits for the gov. to protect the natural rights of citizens

4. New Political Ideas Cont.
A Frenchman, Montesquieu expanded on this: in order to prevent the gov.
from oppressing these rights, the powers of the gov. should be separate
To him, the powers of the gov. (making laws, enforcing laws,
etc.) should be separated rather than in the hands of one ruler
Not only that God does not choose kings, but that never
should any one ruler or group rule absolutely

5. Philosophes Voltaire – one of the most famous philosophes of the
Enlightenment, Voltaire was vehemently anti-religious
To Voltaire, religion was the cause of intolerance, conflict, and oppression
-Religious Wars (30 Years War), conflicts with Islam, oppression of Jews, etc.
He also argued religion allowed rulers to rule unjustly and oppressively,
and allowed such rulers to deny people their basic, natural rights
Thinkers such as Rousseau also advocated governing through the general will
To Rousseau, no one person can determine what the will (or desire) of the
people, therefore, the population must be the ones making the laws

6. Impact of Enlightenment
While these ideals were initially oppressed
by governments, they spread quickly in Eur/The Americas
The questioning of religion and governments, basing life and society instead
on reason and popular (the people) involvement inspired many revolutions
American Revolution ( ) – challenged the authority of the British
monarch and started a constitutional republic protecting individual rights
French Revolution (1789) – challenged and overthrew the oppressive monarchy and
nobility and gave law-making power to the people / wrote a constitution
Latin-American Revolutions (early 1800s) – questioned and challenged
the rule of oppressive, imperial governments – Mexico, Cuba, Haiti, etc.