The Enlightenment occurred from 1685 to 1815 in Europe and eventually North America. It began as a result of both the Renaissance and Scientific Revolution, as people began using reason and logic to understand the world and improve lives. During this period, people questioned the Catholic Church for its abuses and corruption and turned to their own ideas. Enlightenment thinkers like Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Voltaire, and Wollstonecraft developed new ideas about natural rights, separation of powers, social contracts, tolerance, and feminism to create a more just and reasonable society with limited church influence.

1. The Enlightenment
Different ways of thinking.

2. What is the
Enlightenment?
The Enlightenment is a
period of time when people
began to use reason and
logic (their brains!) to
understand the world around
them and use that new
knowledge to improve their
lives.
The Enlightenment is
sometimes referred to as the
Age of Reason.

3. Where and When did the Enlightenment Happen?
The Enlightenment
occurred from 1685 to
1815.
The Enlightenment began in
Europe and eventually
moved across the Atlantic
Ocean and into North
America.

4. How did the Enlightenment Happen?
The Enlightenment happened
as a direct result of both the
Renaissance Era and the
Scientific Revolution.
The Scientific Revolution led
to new efforts to use reason
and logic to improve human
life.

5. The Catholic Church Weakens
During this time
• people began to question the church
• challenged the Catholic Church for its
abuses and corruption.’
• The Protestant Reformation led many
Europeans to turn away from the
Catholic Church and form their own
ideas about religion and the world.

6. Thinking About the World
Using the developments of the Scientific Revolution (logic and reason) people began to take a
critical look at their own lives and society.
• They wanted to figure out how to make life more fair, more enjoyable and safer.
• In order to do this, they realized they needed
• improve education
• create a free and fair system of government
• limit the power of the church on people’s lives.

7. Enlightenment Thinkers &
Their Big Ideas!

8. John Locke- Natural Rights
Quote #1: “Being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm
another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.”

9. Baron de Montesquieu
Separation of Powers
Quote #2: “It is necessary from the very nature of things that power
should be a check to power.”

10. Jean-Jacques Rousseau & Social Contract
Quote #1: “Every man having been born free and master of himself,
no one else may under any pretext whatever subject him without his
consent. To assert that the son of a slave is born a slave is to assert
that he is not born a man.”

11. Voltaire - Tolerance
Quote #3: “Discord is the great ill of mankind; and
tolerance is the only remedy for it.”

12. Mary Wollstonecraft- Feminism
Quote #1:“I do not wish women to have power over men; but over
themselves”