The Ancien Régime, Enlightenment, Enlightened Despotism and independence of the USA (4th ESO)

1. THE 18TH
CENTURY: THE CRISIS OF THE ANCIEN RÉGIME
AND THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE USA

2. ANCIEN RÉGIME
Expression used by the French revolutionaries to describe
all they wanted to destroy. It refers to the features of the
European societies of the Modern Era, especially those of
the 17th
and 18th
century:
- Demography: high birth rates, high mortality rates, low
natural growth (sometimes zero or negative growth)
- Absolute monarchy
-Society divided into estates
-Low production economy: subsistence agriculture and a lot
of limits to the development of economic activities (guilds,
interior customs, a lot of taxes)
The French revolutionaries wanted to change all this and
establish:
- A representative government, elected by the
citizens
- A society based on equality of all the citizens,
without privileges.
- A productive economy, where those who had
initiative could make business without limitations.

3. ENLIGHTENMENT: DEFINITION
Intellectual movement developed in
Europe in the 18th
century that
questioned all the Ancien Régime
principles. it was based on the use
of Reason as the best way to know
the world and transform it.
The enlightened philosophers
wanted to “illuminate the darkness
of the world with the lights of
Reason”. This is why the 18th
century
was also called the “century of
lights” and the “Age of Reason”
Elitist movement, promoted by educated people

4. PRECEDENTS (17TH
CENTURY)
JOHN LOCKE: English philosopher who lived
the English revolutions of the 17th
century. His
ideas are considered to be a precedent of
Enlightenment:
- He criticized absolutism
- He defended the division of powers
- He defended the role of the State as the
guarantor of the citizens’ rights
ISAAC NEWTON: English scientist who
created the scientific method, based on
observing and checking facts. He discovered
the Law of Universal Gravitation
JOHN LOCKEJOHN LOCKE
ISAAC NEWTONISAAC NEWTON

5. MAIN FEATURESMAIN FEATURES
• Absolute faith in Reason, as the best way of
understanding the world.
• Rejection of everything that couldn´t be
explained through Reason: the authority
principle, superstitions, traditions,
revelations…
• Optimism and trust in progress.
• Knowledge as the basis of happiness.
• Trust in education, considered to be the
best way to improve the living conditions of
the people.
• Religious tolerance: no religion was
superior and Reason was enough to
establish a morality code to determine how
to behave.
• Criticism of absolutism and the estate-
based society and defense of freedom and
equality of all the human beings.
• Elitist movement, reserved to educated
people
IMMANUEL KANTIMMANUEL KANT
““Dare to know”Dare to know”
(SAPERE AUDE)(SAPERE AUDE)
Meeting of enlightened philosophers. Among them
Condorcet, Voltaire and Diderot

6. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA
This was the project that reflected the spirit of Enlightenment in the best way. Denis Diderot
and Jean Rond D´Alembert compiled all the knowledge of their time. They asked the main
scientists and philosophers to write articles for this project.
The first edition of the Encyclopedia appeared in 1751 and had 35 volumes.
DIDEROT D´ALEMBERT

7. JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU
MAIN IDEAS
- He defended the social contract:
the agreement the people and
the governors sign to preserve
social order.
- He defended the general will:
power or sovereignty lies on the
people and they should use it
directly, deciding by themselves
(not through representatives).

8. MONTESQUIEU
He defended the division of
powers into three institutions
(executive, legislative and judicial)
and insisted on the necessity of an
independent judicial power.

9. VOLTAIRE
He defended:
- that the power of the king had to
be limited by the Parliament,
- a universal tax system
- religious tolerance.
He strongly criticized the Church.

10. ECONOMIC THINKING: PHYSIOCRACY AND ECONOMIC LIBERALISM
Physiocrats considered agriculture to be the most important economic
activity of a country and they supported private property, free trade, free
industry and were against any intervention of the State in economy
(economic liberalism).
QUESNAYQUESNAY
one of the mainone of the main
physiocratsphysiocrats
ADAM SMITH,ADAM SMITH,
Pioneer of economic liberalismPioneer of economic liberalism

11. ENLIGHTENED DESPOTISM
CATHERINE II
OF RUSSIA
FREDERIC II OF
PRUSSIA
CHARLES III
Some European monarchs adopted
some ideas of the Enlightenment
and introduced some reforms in their
kingdoms, but, at the same time, they
tried to preserve their absolute power.
They made administrative, educational
and economic reforms, but without asking
their subjects for their opinion: they did
“everything for the people, but without the
people”.
They didn´t touch the structure of power
or the privileges of nobles and clergy.
This is why the reforms they made were
insufficient.

12. INDEPENDENCE OF THE BRITISH COLONIES OF NORTH AMERICA
THE 13 BRITISH COLONIES
The English had created 13 colonies
on the coasts of North America. In the
2nd half of the 18th century the
colonists showed increasing
discontent with regard to their
situation.
Reasons for the colonists´ discontent:
-No representatives in the British
Parliament: they couldn´t express
their opinion or oppose the laws
against their interests.
-Constant tax increase.
-British trade monopoly over the
colonies: they couldn´t buy or sell
their products to other places.

13. The revolt started as a
reaction against the
increase of the tea tax (the
revolt slogan was “no
taxation without
representation”).
Some colonists dressed as
Indians assaulted a British
ship of the East India
Company at Boston harbor
and threw all the tea cargo
away to the sea. The British
strongly repressed the
revolt and discontent grew.
The expansion of the ideas of Enlightenment also had an important influence over the
colonists.
BOSTON TEA PARTY(1773)

14. REVOLUTIONARY WAR / AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE (1775-1783)REVOLUTIONARY WAR / AMERICAN WAR OF INDEPENDENCE (1775-1783)
In 1775 the war between the
British and the colonists started.
The first battles took place in
Lexington and Concord.
France and Spain supported the
colonists against the British.
The representatives of the
colonists met at the 2nd
Continental
Congress and
assumed government. Lexington and Concord Battles

15. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE (4DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE (4THTH
JULY1776)JULY1776)
During the 2nd
Continental
Congress of Philadelphia the
delegates of the 13 colonies
decided to declare the
independence from Great
Britain. Thomas Jefferson
wrote the text of the
declaration.
The presentation of the Declaration

16. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE: CONTENTDECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE: CONTENT
- All men are equal and free and have
some unalienable rights. The
government ´s role is to guarantee
these rights. If the government doesn
´t do its work, the citizens are
legitimized to break their ties with the
government
- King George hasn´t fulfilled his role
with respect to the North American
colonies.
- The colonies have decided to break
their political connection with Great
Britain and become an independent
nation.
Complete text:
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/

17. General George Washington led the
North American troops. After some
defeats in Saratoga (1777) and
Yorktown (1781), the war finished in
1783. Great Britain recognized the
independence of the USA (United
States of America) in the Treaty of
Paris, signed on the 3rd September
1783.
Yorktown Battle
Representatives of the colonies in the negotiation of the
Treaty of Paris (John Jay, John Adams, Benjamin
Franklin, Henry Laurens and William Temple Franklin).
The British delegates rejected to pose and the painting
remained unfinished. Treaty of Paris

18. THE USA: THE FIRST “REPRESENTATIVE” GOVERNMENTTHE USA: THE FIRST “REPRESENTATIVE” GOVERNMENT
George Washington was the first president of the USA.
In 1787 the USA had the first written Constitution in
history. It included:
- Seven articles with the organization of the new
State, based on the principles of political liberalism
(representative government, division of powers,
general will, social contract…)
- The USA was :
- a presidential Republic: the president holds
wide powers.
- A federal State: every state has important
powers: own laws, own courts of justice, own
police…
However, a big part of the population was excluded
from these rights: women, poor people, slaves, native
Americans.

19. In 1791 the Constitution
added a Bill of Rights (the 10
first amendments).
The Constitution has been
amended several times.
Nowadays it includes 27
amendments. Some of the
amendments done included
the abolition of slavery, the
right to vote for women, for
black people, the prohibition
of alcohol.