Enlightenment: The World Today's Contribution To The Enlightenment

The world today is far more free than it was in the past. This is largely due to the influence of the enlightenment philosophers whose ideas are rather common in society today. However, the world is in a few ways, less free than it was. This can also be attributed to the philosophers of the enlightenment period.

Prior to the events of The Enlightenment, The Scientific Revolution occured. This is a time in which the authority of the church is challenged and long and old traditional ideas about god are challenged by science. This led into the French Revolution because if you can challenge god you are able to challenge monarchs. The French took away power from the monarchs and put more power into the people. However this

Napoleon came in and made things basically they were previously with the power back into the hands of a singular leader rather than a republic of people. People didn’t want Napoleon and got rid of him and The Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen was written to put the power back into the people. An example of a political lense,“Men are born and remain free and equal in rights” (Article 1, Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen) This put power into the people. Monarchs don’t deserve their position because they are the same and equal. However this is hypocritical because certain exceptions were made for slavery to persist in its existence. From an economical standpoint, there was a major lack of food for the common people. This lead to the women 's march, peasant woman storming the queen because they thought she was harboring food and making the poor starve. Enlightenment philosopher John Locke’s blank slate theory changed the way people perceive and interacted with the 1st estate and monarchs. They didn’t see them as divine rulers, but rather just ordinary people equal to them. From a cultural standpoint, The Declaration of Rights

They had a lot better militia than the colonized nations and were a large dominating force. In fact there was so much power to Britain they covered so much of the world that a phrase was said often for them, that the sun never sets in the British empire because it was located all across the world. A major economic factor in Imperialism was the benefits it reaped for the countries that were Imperializing. They gained a ton of resources and free labor which was a major driving economic part. The interactions between the imperialist and those being colonized were quite negative. For example the British imperialist in India looked down upon those who already lived there. This is very obvious in “White Man’s Burden.” There is a statement in it that clearly shows how the British imperialist view the Indians. “Half devil and half child,” (Kipling, White Man’s Burden) shows how the British viewed the Indians in the age of Imperialism. The culture of the western european countries possessed the idea that they were superior to countries like India which played a big part in their culture. There was a lack of celebration of life for the peoples of the countries being imperialized. “To veil the threat of terror And check the show of pride; By open speech and simple,” this part means that they will keep their culture in check by showing them