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The period of enlightenment
History chAPTER 2 the enlightenment
History of the enlightenment period
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The Enlightenment was a period in history throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth century when the philosophes brought new ideas of science, philosophy, society, and politics. Philosophes were the intellectuals of the Enlightenment who gave reason to the study of many areas of learning. John Locke, Baron de Montesquieu, Voltaire, and Mary Wollstonecraft all focused on one key concept, though - and that is freedom. More distinctly, these philosophes believed that society would change for the better if they reformed the government, religious toleration, and equality for all. Born in the United Kingdom and in France, both John Locke and Baron de Montesquieu believed that the government restricted the citizens from doing what they wanted.
Those who were considered as general leaders of the Enlightenment years were thought to be very intellectual and were held by most people in the highest regard throughout the colonial society. Some of the more common names spoken back then were of men such as “John Locke, Voltaire, Adam Smith, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison” (Sage, 2013, para. 3). Jean-Jacques Rousseau was another prominent thinker as well. He believed that all “individuals had natural rights to life, liberty, and property, which even a king or pope could not deny” (Schultz, 2010, p. 69). Rousseau, along with countless others fought for the rights of the people while insisting that each person is afforded the lawful right to live their own life and to cast aside the authoritativeness of others if they saw fit in doing
In the 17th and 18th century the Enlightenment was a period of intellectual movement encompassing reason, individualism, and skepticism. The Scientific Revolution, which came from the enlightenment, resulted in new scientific findings, particularly in astronomy, which changed long-held beliefs about how space affects the natural world. These new revelations led people to doubt the established political and social hierarchies. The Enlightenment challenged traditional notions of hierarchy, including the king's 'divine right' to govern, the nobility's privileges, and the influence of religion on politics. Additionally, it served as an inspiration for the values of choice, equality, and independence as well as the fundamentals of human reason
During the 1500s and 1600s, Western European countries saw the rise of absolute monarchies. This is where the monarch held complete political power without any limitations from a constitution or laws. These monarchs ruled over their states and people without any legal restrictions. While absolute monarchy is different from limited monarchy, where the monarch's authority is restricted by a constitution, political groups like the aristocracy, clergy, bourgeoisie, and proletarians helped balance the power of the monarchy. Absolutism was a period of tyranny because many rulers at this time only cared about themselves and wanted to make themselves better as kings.
Enlightened absolute monarch is a ruler who was inspired or influenced by the enlightenment era. An example of a ruler who would be in an absolute monarch is a King or Queen that rules an empire. Specifically they would be influenced by several famous philosophers. These would include: John Locke and Voltaire. They would be influenced by their way of thinking and their philosophies.
The Enlightenment was a European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition. By the early 1700s, European thinkers believed that nothing was beyond the reach of the human mind. The Scientific Revolution of the 1500s and the 1600s had transformed the way people in Europe looked at the world. The Scientific Revolution caused reformers to begin studying human behaviors and try to solve the problems of society. This new surge of learning led to another revolution in thinking known as the Enlightenment.
As an enlightened despot, I have appreciated with Voltaire’s and Denis’s enlightened ideas, to construct our Absolute Monarch system and allow more possibilities to make changes. I will continue to pursue legal, social and educational reforms inspired by the Enlightenment. Inspired by Voltaire’s book “The Candide”, I approved his writings which consisted his own enlightenment ideas and beliefs that supported the freedom of speech as well as continental Monarchy. Such ideas that interested me, I decided to allow freedom of speech to take an event, and support it with my trust. I also support Voltaire’s philosophy based on his beliefs on natural laws and views.
Different factors had a part to play in starting or even propelling ‘the Age of Enlightenment’, including the rule of the Church and State which experienced a power struggle among them, in addition to the Western discovery of latest societies with noticeably exclusive cultural traditions and norms. Many intellectuals felt unhappy with the fixed social styles amongst their very own collectives, and angry at their governments' refusal to provide non-public rights. The lasting political effect of the Enlightenment can't be overstated. At the least three fundamental political revolutions came about throughout this time period in Britain, America, and France.
The Enlightenment was a period of time that stressed the importance of reason and individual ideas. Many philosophers published works criticizing a country’s monarch or divulging the flaws they saw in a system within the government, such as the justice system. The Enlightenment also stressed the importance of education, and as a result of this, literacy rates experienced a major upward trend. Now able to read the philosopher’s works, a larger sum of people now were educated on the corruptions within their government. This caused a questioning of traditional practices, and people began to believe they could revise their government.
Historian, Anna Plassart (2016 p280) states that the period of Enlightenment (c 1688-1815) changed the ideas of society in the Early Modern Europe and became associated with social, cultural and political changes particularly in the areas of knowledge, religion, politics and education. Plassart argues that Enlightenment was predominately an elite intellectual phenomena with supporting contingent drawn from the developing “middle sort”, which Plassart suggests accounted for approximately one third of Europe’s population (Maza 2012 in Plassart 2016p 280). Following after the scientific revolution of the 17th century the Enlightenment movement brought transformation by challenging traditional moral and intellectual authorities such as the church and government. Enlightened thinkers adopted a form of intellectual and scientific examination based on a theory of mans’ ability to observe, reason and apply logic, that tested traditional beliefs and practices relating to the social issues of the day. (Plassart 2016p.280)
Enlightenment philosophical concepts were mostly centered on moving away from absolute monarchies, were they held all the power but to a democracy where people were able to corporate their ideas in government and make decisions. From these teachings and new intellectual discoveries, The Enlightenment influenced the American and French revolution as well as the Latin Wars. John Locke 's Ideas were heavily utilized in both the American and French revolutions. In the American Revolution, his three rights for all were incorporated in their Declaration of Independence from the British monarchy. Similar clashes between the government and the governed occurred in Haiti.
The Age of Enlightenment was a period of time when a movement of intellectuals strove to create tolerance of religion, separation of state and church, as well as removing complete power of the monarch. The Glorious Revolution of 1688, followed many Enlightenment principles. The cause of this revolution was the people’s displeasure with the Catholic king, James II, in hopes of turning the country to Protestantism, William of Orange, the king of Holland, and his wife Mary II, James oldest child. This quick and almost bloodless revolution put William of Orange of the English throne, gaining Protestants religious freedom, but suppressed the freedoms of Catholics. Although the Glorious Revolution was fueled in part by religious intolerance, ultimately the Glorious Revolution was a direct outcome of the Age of Enlightenment.
Shanti Gurung History 101 Final Exam Professor Montague 12/06/2015 1. As some 16th and 17th c. leaders sought to strengthen their control over both the legislative and administrative machinery of their respective kingdoms, others witnessed the destruction of absolutism as their principle governing philosophy. What obstacles did English royalty face in their effort to establish an absolute monarchy in the early decades of the 17th century? (Hint: Remember the tactics monarchs employed to achieve absolutism.)
The Enlightenment gave people power to make the changes they wanted for independence and politics using intellect and reason, their natural right. The norm of a society that is modelled today became reason over
The Enlightenment was a period during the 1600 and 1700s where authority, power, government and law was questioned by philosophers. The causes of the Enlightenment was the Thirty Years’ War, centuries of mistreatment at the hands of monarchies and the church, greater exploration of the world, and European thinkers’ interest in the world (scientific study). A large part of the Enlightenment was natural law, which was the belief that people should live their lives and organize their society on the basis of rules and precepts laid down by nature or God; the principles of the Enlightenment in the 1600s through the 1700s influenced the development of the USA by advocating religious and social freedom, freeing the people from oppression, and providing