The Age of Enlightenment Flashcards
Define the Enlightenment
An intellectual movement set in the late 17th and 18th centuries among scientists, writers, and thinkers that developed into an international movement.
What was the pre-enlightenment period like?
Catholicism = main religion; many events in the 1500s and 1600s challenged the Catholic Church’s authority
The Religious Reformation
Martin Luther, a German monk and professor created a 95 thesis where he started his accusations against the Catholic Church, believing that they were corrupt and abused their power. He believed that the Church did not have full control over the path to salvation. This made people challenge their authority and his message reached a large audience due to the printing press. People began to read the Bible with their own interpretations.
Political Upheaval: In the 1500s,
The leaders in Europe fought over land, resources, and different interpretations of the Bible, creating a near-constant conflict. Eventually, this led to the Thirty Years’ War.
The Thirty Years’ War: The Consequences
Peace after the war resulted in sovereignty; meaning that countries can have full control within their borders and prohibits in affecting other countries situations
Also produced more criticism of continent’s political and religious leaders after this conflict that resulted in millions of lives taken
Scientific Revolution: In the early 1600s,
Francis Bacon believed that scientific discoveries couldn’t be found through religion, rather through facts and observations. He, as well as Galileo, Johannes Kepler, and Isaac Newton, created a breakthrough in astronomy, math, and psychics.
The Church thought these discoveries and thoughts were threats to their power even though many of these thinkers were devout Christians who believed science and religion could coexist.
How did the Enlightenment change society?
The Enlightenment’s main goal was to apply methods of inquiry and discovery to law, religion, economics, and politics. They believed this ideology could produce an unbiased society and not all the power for monarchs and religious leaders.
Opposition to Absolute Monarchy:
Jean-Jacques Rousseau and John Locke believed no one should have unlimited power and that leaders got their authority from the people, not God. Locke claimed that people should replace their government with someone that can respect their rights if they were unhappy. Voltaire on the other hand, believed that a monarchy was the best to advance social, political, and economic goals.
Separation of Powers:
The Baron de Montesquieu called for balanced power between executive, legislative, and judicial authorities. Enlightenment thinkers called for a separation of church and state; that government should not interfere with religious affairs, vice versa. Writers like Voltaire were critical of the influence that religion had on European policy making, creating tons of conflict.
Liberty and Individual Rights:
John Locke believed everyone should have natural rights to life, liberty, and property, and believed these rights should be protected. These calls for individual rights increased less religious tolerance in Europe, leading to various governments beginning religious minorities a greater freedom to worship.
Equality:
Nobility had rights to own land, avoid taxes, and hold exclusive jobs whereas the poor stayed poor. Locke believed all men should have equal rights, enabling marginalized groups to use the same arguments for equality. Mary Astell and Mary Wollstonecraft wrote to advocate for women’s rights and opportunities. On the other hand, thinkers like Rousseau believed that women, ethnic minorities, and the enslaved were less than compared to white men.
Free-Market Capitalism:
Adam Smith introduced groundbreaking economic theories like supply and demand, free-market capitalism, comparative advantage, and minimal regulations. All these theories argued that countries become richer when they produce what they are best at producing and important what they are not.
