The Age of Enlightenment

1. TheAge of Enlightenment

2. A Cultural Movement Whatdifferences do youseebetweenthesepictures?

3. Whatis a Cultural Movement? • A change in thewaypeopleact and think • Movements are oftenledby a group of peoplehopingtoadvancecertaingoals. • African American Civil RightsMovement: • Whatchangeoccurred? • Whowereleaders? Whatgoalsdidtheyhave?

4. Key Characteristics of the Enlightenment • Skepticism (asking questions) • Emphasis on logic and reason • Conclusions based on sound evidence • Disregarded tradition • Opposed intolerance and superstition

5. Do youlike Bacon? The Baconian method looked for logical connections to find the source or cause of an effect. For example concluding that the sun produces heat because it burns your skin. • TheEnlightenmentbegan in Europe and wasmotivatedbyscientificdiscoveries. • Sir Francis Bacon was a keycontributorwithhisscientificmethod and process. • CONTRAST: • HowdidPuritanstest or prove their theories or ideas? (Crucible) • How did Puritans explain natural phenomena? (Bradstreet) • What methods did Puritans use to control the population (Edwards)

6. Locke it Down! Liberalismstatesthatpeoplehave natural rights, and thatpeopleshouldhavethefreedom to do whatevertheywant so long as itdoesnothurtotherpeople. Locke was a Doctor/Lawyer/Philosopher He used logic and reason to create the philosophy of Liberalism. He wrote important essays such as “Two Treatises of Government” and “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding.” What rights do people have today? What rights did people have under monarchies or theocracies? Who is in charge of the government now? Who is in charge of monarchies?

7. Locke’s Logic • Consider how Locke concluded that a government by the people was the most stable and therefore useful. • People revolt against governments because they are unhappy with them. • People have no influence in a monarchy. • Therefore, it is more likely that they will be unhappy with the monarchy. • If common people ran the government, they would control its decisions. They would therefore not need to revolt. • A government by the people is more stable. • Consider an example of Locke’s use of reason to arrive at a conclusion: • People cannot confirm with evidence which religion is right • Even if so, some would not be convinced. • You cannot force a person to believe a religion • Therefore forcing people to follow a religion will lead to problems. • The best way to avoid problems is to permit all religions.

8. American Enlightenment • TheEnlightenmentinfluencedtheFoundingFathersgreatly. The ideas of theEnlightenmentwere quite wellreceived: • Colonistsalreadyenjoyed considerable civil liberties • Most colonial governmentswerealready quite democratic • Allthecolonieswereautonomous and were quite separatefromthe English Crown • Opinion of thecrownwaslow as the King startedimposing new taxes and restrictions

9. Republicanism • American Enlightenmentuniquelyfeaturedthe idea of Republicanism. Republicanismhadseveralcharacteristics: • A government of a Republic, meaning a union of memberstates. • Governmentofficialsmust be electedby a majority of thepeople • Thegovernmentshould be limited in power and nottrusted • Propertyrightswereextremelyimportant • These ideas arosespecificallyfromthecolonist’s complaints about England Thecombination of Liberalism and Republicanismformedtheidealsfor a new country: TheUnitedStates of America

10. And theRestisHistory