Eighteenth Century France
What was the Enlightenment?
Ideas that originated during the Enlightenment
WHAT EVENTS WERE CATALYSTS FOR THE ENLIGHTENMENT?
OTHER CAUSES OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT
The Scientific Revolution (16th and 17th century)
Bacon’s Scientific Method
Isaac Newton
18th century Enlightenment – The Age of Reason
THE INFLUENCE OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT
2. What was the Enlightenment?
A time period also known as the Age of Reason
It took place in Europe during the 18th century
(1700s)
3. What was the Enlightenment?
During this time, thinkers called philosophes
began to use reason to try to understand how the
world worked and how to make it better
Old superstitions were rejected and religious beliefs
were challenged
There were many political, social, and scientific
advances that affect us still today
4. Ideas that originated during the
Enlightenment
Right to happiness
Science should be practical
Discrimination is wrong
Separation of church and state
Right to privacy
Governments should not be all-powerful
Freedom of speech
Education and prison reforms
Seeds of Democracy
5. WHAT EVENTS WERE CATALYSTS
FOR THE ENLIGHTENMENT?
The religious warfare of the 1600s
So many had died, people began to realize that
intolerance wasn’t working
When Louis XIV revoked (got rid of) the Edict of
Nantes
200,000 Protestant refugees fled France
6. OTHER CAUSES OF THE
ENLIGHTENMENT
Pre-Enlightenment Thinkers
Rene Descartes
The father of modern rationalism
“I think, therefore I am”
The Scientific Revolution
Francis Bacon
Scientific Method: systematic observations and
careful experiments would lead to correct principles
Isaac Newton
Natural laws can be discovered
7. The Scientific Revolution
(16th and 17th century)
Nicholas Copernicus
Heliocentric model
challenges both
established science and
the Church
Opens the door to the
questioning of other
realms
Francis Bacon
Scientific Method – man
can now use reason to
explain the world around
him – no need for God in
science
9. Isaac Newton
Develops mathematical
ideas that explain the
physical universe
Laws of Motion
1) An object in motion
will remain in motion
2) Force = mass X
acceleration
3) For every action, there
is an equal and
opposite reaction
10. 18th century Enlightenment – The Age of Reason
Revolution in philosophy
Philosophers, inspired by scientists, started
questioning God and God’s role in society
Particular emphasis was placed on criticizing
government and the church
Paris, France was the hotbed of reason – rather
ironically, it was also the center of Absolutism and
Divine Right
Philosophers wrote the words that inspired
revolutionaries, both in America and in France
11. THE INFLUENCE OF THE
ENLIGHTENMENT
One of the main issues that was discussed during this
time was the role of government
Enlightenment thinkers (philosophes) contributed
many ideas to this debate:
John Locke
Voltaire
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
12. John Locke and Jean Jacque Rousseau
Locke
English philosopher
Believed that men are
entitled to life, liberty and
PROPERTY
Inspiration for the
American founding
fathers (all were rich,
white, educated men)
Government should
protect us from us – first
priority was to provide
security and order
Rousseau
French Philosopher
Believed that all men are
entitiled to life, liberty
and EQUALITY
Inspiration for the French
revolutionaries (many
women and poor
commoners)
Government should
promote equality among
all men
14. The “Social Contract”
Men form governments.
Governments must respond to the
needs of men.
If a government does not respond
to the needs of men, men have the
right to change the government.
15. Views on the Social Contract
Who are the “men”? Who determines whether or not the government is
serving the needs of men?
What does it mean to “change” the government?
There have been different answers to these questions from throughout
history……………..
Locke
Rousseau
American Founding Fathers
French Revolutionaries
Karl Marx
Southern leaders in the US in 1861
Vladimir Lenin
Chairman Mao
16. Voltaire
French philosopher who
attacked the Church and
the French government
though his short novel,
Candide and other works
Advocated freedom of
religion and separation of
church and state
Advocated the right of
citizens to a fair and
impartial trial
17. Adam Smith
English economist and
philosopher who attacked
the idea of government
intervention in the
economy
Advocated “laissez-faire”
economics (hands off)
Believed in a pure
capitalist system where
the “law of supply and
demand” would determine
prices
18. David Hume
English philosopher who
questioned the existence of
God
Used a logical and scientific
argument to question faith
Since faith itself is
irrational, what makes one
faith right for everyone?
Heavily criticized by the
Anglican Church, of which
he was a member, but never
wavered in his views
19. Deism and the Watchmaker Theory
Enlightenment age religion that advocated a belief in God (even if that
belief was irrational)
God was there in the beginning, and will be there in the end, but in
between we’re on our own
Imagine an old style windup watch……God made the watch and
wound it up, but then left it alone. He’ll be back when the watch
needs to be rewound
No need for prayer or worship – it’s counterproductive – God’s not
listening anyway
Humans have ultimate free choice and free will
Many of the American founding fathers believed in Deism – Thomas
Jefferson was probably the most famous
Voltaire also advocated Deism and the right to freedom of religion
20. The Results of the Enlightenment
Reason is used to justify different forms of
government-not everyone agreed on what was best!
Voltaire-Monarchy, Rousseau-Democracy
Stimulated religious tolerance
Progress is encouraged
Will help spark an Industrial Revolution
Inspired revolutions in the United States, France,
and Latin America
Citizens questioning the role of government
22. The American Revolution
Not really a classic “revolution” in the sense that a social class did
not revolt against the one above it
Really more of a war for independence, but it did incorporate
rhetoric from the Age of Reason
American revolutionary LEADERS studied Locke and others –
they certainly believed in the rhetoric, but the average “patriot” in
the street paid little in the way of taxes, so “no taxation without
representation” was little more than a slogan.
The new government formed after the revolution was at least
outwardly based on enlightenment principles, although it would
be decades before most of those principles were actually put into
practice – think of how long it took women to receive the vote.
23. Declaration of Independence
Written by Thomas
Jefferson
Restatement of the social
contract
List of grievances – what
King George III did to
break the contract
Considered the first true
government document
containing enlightenment
principles
Used as a pattern for
revolutions around the
world
25. Enlightened Despotism
Idea found in Central and Eastern Europe whereby monarchs
and emperors made changes to their societies in which
modernized the states while the people earned some political
and social rights
Monarchs still maintained absolute control, but instead of
justifying their rule by divine right (God), they instead saw
themselves at the head of the people
Most of the ideas were really designed to PREVENT
revolution (governments must serve the needs of men)
Many of the reforms were eventually rescinded after the
people tried to get even more rights (revolutions were often
brutally repressed
26. Fredrick the Great of Prussia
•Emperor of Prussia in the
Northern Germanic Lands
•Modernized the military
and opened officer
positions to middle and
lower classes
•Modernized the Prussian
government and opened
positions to people of
merit instead of cronies
27. Catherine the Great of Russia
Modernized the Russian army
and government
Studied in France during the
Enlightenment
Tried to link Russia to the
West through trade and
diplomatic relations
Increased Russia’s territory,
especially against the
Ottomans (Turks) – sought to
link Russia to its Slavic
neighbors to the south
28. Maria Theresa and Joseph II of the Hapsburg Empire (Austria)
Note – mother and brother to Marie Antoinette (Queen of France)
Serfdom abolished in the
Hapsburg Lands
Granted freedom of religion
(very radical idea, especially in
a Catholic empire)
Established a national
education system
Developed equality before the
law, even for the nobility
Many of the reforms were
rolled back after revolutions
broke out among the minority
populations of the Hapsburg
Empire