The Enlightenment

1. The Enlightenment • Finding a new way to rule without absolutism. • Radical ideas! • Equal rights for men! • A few thought it should it should also be equal rights for women. • But only a few! • Limits on power!

2. Remember the Scientific Revolution? • Changed the way people looked at the world in the 1500s –1600s. • In the 1700s knowledge learned in science was being used to change everyone’s lives.

3. A cure for the greatest killer (Don’t write) • Smallpox! • First recorded 10,000 B.C.E • Had a 20 – 60% mortality rate for adults. • 80% mortality rate for children. • 1/3 of victims blinded. • Almost all scarred.

4. Edward Jenner (Don’t Write) • Noted that milkmaids never got smallpox if they had been infected with cowpox. • Similar to smallpox, but less deadly. • Tested it by taking puss from milkmaid’s Sarah Nelmes hand infected by the cow Blossom.

5. Edward Jenner (Don’t Write) • Scraped the puss onto lesions on 8 year old James Phipps arms. • James Phipps became ill with a fever and achiness. • Recovered and never caught smallpox.

6. Edward Jenner (Don’t Write) • Eventually shots were developed. • 1980 – smallpox was ERADICATED from the world. • People born before 1973 carry the scar on their upper arm for the vaccine.

7. Jenner’s success convinced others of the power of human reason • NATURAL LAW: • Rules discoverable by reason for science. • WHY COULDN’T THE SAME BE USED FOR: • Political Problems. • Economic Problems. • Social Problems.

8. The Rise of the Salons (Don’t Write) • Gatherings where educated people could freely exchange ideas. • Use reason to try to solve problems. • More private than coffee houses. • Some discussions could get you arrested, so invitations were necessary to join a salon.

9. The “superstars” of the Enlightenment: POLITICS Thomas Hobbes John Locke Both were speaking from their families experiences during the English Civil War. (Roundheads v. Cavaliers)

10. The Enlightenment: Thomas Hobbes • Believed that human nature in a “natural state” is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. • A SOCIAL CONTRACT – an agreement between the ruler and the people was needed to protect life.

11. John Locke’s ideas contrasted Hobbes • Believed that people were reasonable and moral. • All people had NATURAL RIGHTS at birth. • Life • Liberty • Property

12. John Locke • A government has an obligation to the people it governs. • If government fails and violates people’s natural rights … • People had the right to OVERTHROW that government.

13. The Philosophes: Improving Society • Montesquieu • Voltaire • Diderot • Rousseau

14. Montesquieu: A noble who spoke for democracy • 1689 –1755 • Studying history made him aware absolutism was not right. • The only way to prevent dictators was to divide up power so no one person could be too powerful.

15. The Leader of the PhilosophesVOLTAIRE • Real name Francois-Arouet (1694 – 1778) • Using sarcasm and wit he criticised “enemies of freedom.” • Corrupt government • Idle aristocrats • Religious prejudice • Slave trade • Inequality, injustice, superstition.

16. Voltaire • His writing was the “Jon Stewart Daily News” and “SNL” of his time. • Twice imprisoned, books burned in public, exiled from France. • IMMENSELY popular in the salons. • Catherine the Great built a palace for him and invited him to live in Russia. • The Hermitage.

17. Diderot: The Encyclopedia • Created 28 volume set of books “to change the general way of thinking” by explaining topics such as government, philosophy, and religion.

18. Diderot’s Encyclopedia • Articles by the leading Philosophes: • Explained science • Praised freedom of expression • Denounced slavery • Urged education • Denounced Divine Right Theory. • 4,000 copies sold between 1751 – 1789.

19. Rousseau: The Social Contract • Jean Jacques Rousseau: • People are naturally good, but society corrupts them. • Interesting “test” for his theory! • Society puts too many limitations on people. • Some government needed – but should be minimal. • Only a FREELY ELECTED government had the right to rule over the “general will.”

20. The Slogan of the Philosophes (Don’t Write) • Free and Equal. • BUT DID THAT APPLY TO WOMEN??

21. Women’s Rights (Don’t Write) • The Enlightenment did “discuss” that women had natural rights. • BUT rights were limited to home and family.

22. Mary Wollstonecraft • 1792: A VINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN. • Women should be free to decide what is in their own self-interest without depending on a husband. • Girls, as well as boys, needed an education to have the tools to participate with men in public life. • Work was banned and ridiculed for over a hundred years.

23. Adam Smith: A New Economic Thinking • 1700s: The government (king) decided what to produce, how to produce and for whom to produce. • Decisions were usually what made the king / nobles wealthy! • MERCANTILISM

24. Adam Smith: FREE MARKETS • Using Natural Law – Smith believed in LAISSEZ-FAIRE – allowing businesses and individuals to decide what to produce, how to produce and for whom to produce. • More products, better prices, more profit for people! • Little government interference.

25. America’s Break With England April 1775: Warfare breaks out between the 13 colonies and British troops. -Lexington and Concord. -George Washington becomes the general of the army. July 1776: The Declaration of Independence.

26. The Declaration of Independence:The influence of the Enlightenment • Government’s obligation is to protect “life, liberty and property.” • The right of the people to abolish unjust governments.

27. Signing of the Declaration of Independence

28. The American Revolution • The 13 Colonies were up against one of the greatest military powers. • They needed ALLIES! • France 1777. • General LaFayette.

29. The American Revolution Ends • 1781: The Battle of Yorktown, Virginia. • Washington blocks the British army by land. • The French block the ocean escape. • TECHNICALLY: The British didn’t surrender! • The Treaty of Paris ends the War and establishes the United States of America in 1783.

30. Creating a Government: The Enlightenment’s Influence on America • The US Constitution: • WE THE PEOPLE create the power. • Limits on power. • Dividing up power between executive, legislative and judicial branches. • THE BILL OF RIGHTS: • Promises of limits on power of what government can or can’t do to people.

31. But would the Enlightenment’s influence be in Europe? • The common people and the peasants had had hundreds of years of unjust absolute rule. • They were very, very, very angry at so much abuse.

32. The Spark of the Enlightenment is about to set off a massive explosion