Chapter 18 Outline
I. Philosophy in the Age of Reason
A. A World of Progress and Reason
1. The enlightenment grew from the scientific revolution of the 1500�s and 1600�s.
2. It was discovered by great thinkers such as Copernicus and Newton.
3. Natural laws- laws that govern human nature.
B. Two Views of the Social Contract
1. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke were two English thinkers that set forth key ideas to the Enlightenment.
2. Hobbes stated that people were naturally cruel, selfish, and greedy.
3. Social contract- an agreement by which they gave up the state of nature for an organized society.
4. John Locke had some different views he stated that people were reasonable and moral.
5. Natural rights- rights that belonged to all humans from birth.
C. Montesquieu�s Spirit of the Law�s
1. 1700�s France experienced an oncoming of enlightenment thought.
2. 1784 Montesquieu published a book called �The Spirit of the Law� in this book he described many governments through out history.
D. The World of the Philosophes
1. France had a group of enlightenment thinkers created a group that used science to better improve and understand society.
2. philosophes- lovers of wisdom.
3. The most famous philosophe was Francois- Marie Arouet.
4. Denis Diderot spent 25 years creating a 28 volume encyclopedia.
E. Rousseau: A Controversial Figure
1. Jean- Jacques Rousseau was the most controversial philosophe.
2. Rousseau thought that people were good in their natural state.
3. Rousseau wrote a book in 1762 called the � The Social Contract�
F. Limited �Natural Rights� for Women
1. Women did not have rights during this time.
2. Women did have natural rights but were limited to the house and family.
3. In the mid 1700�s a growing group of women protested this view of women.
4. Wollstonecraft published a book in 1792 �A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.�
5. This book stated that girls and boys should receive the same education.
G. New Economic Thinking
1. Physiocrats focused on economic reform.
2. laissez faire- policy allowing business to operate with little or no government interference.
3. free market- market in which goods are bought and sold without restriction.
II. Enlightenment Ideas Spread
A. The Challenge of New Ideas
1. During the enlightenment ideas spread rapidly through the social levels.
2. The new ideas of the enlightenment period started to change the views towards the old views.
3. Censorship of the new views of the enlightenment started to try and preserve the old order that are said to have been sent by god.
B. Salons
1. Literature, science, philosophy, and the arts were big topics in salons of this time period.
2. Salons- informal social gatherings at which writers, artists, philosophers, and others exchanged ideas.
3. 1700�s middle class women were holding salons.
C. Enlightenment Despots
1. Philosophes attempted to get rulers of Europe to adopt their ideas.
2. Enlightenment Despots- absolute rulers who used their power to bring about political and social change.
D. The Arts and Literature
1. From the 1600�s to the 1700�s art changed dramatically to meet new taste.
2. Baroque- ornate style of art and architecture popular in the 1600�s to the 1700�s.
E. Lives of the Majority
1. Many Europeans were not bothered by courtly or middle class culture.
2. The people of Europe stayed as peasants in their small rural village.
3. Western villages in western Europe were more prosperous than those in Eastern Europe.
III. Britain at Mid-Century
A. Global Expansion
1. England�s location allowed them to control trade during the renaissance.
2. English merchants scent ships across the world to set up outpost in the 1500�s and 1600�s.
3. 1700�s Britain was on the winning side for most of the conflicts in Europe.
B. Growth of Constitutional Government
1. Britain developed three new types of government: political parties, office of prime minister, and the cabinet.
2. constitutional government- a government whose power is defined and limited by law.
3. The Whigs and the Tories were the first two political parties to come out of Britain.
C. Politics and Society
1. Walpole lead a time of peace and prosperity.
2. The landowning aristocrats of Britain were seen as the �natural� ruling class.
3. All the wealthy land owners started to buy up land and evicted tenant farmers basically destroying the peasants lives even more.
D. George III Reasserts Royal Power
1. 1760 George III started on a 60 year reign.
2. George III made room in the parliament for his friends and by doing so slowly took control of the government.
IV. Birth of the American Republic
A. The 13 English Colonies
1. Great Britain set up 13 prosperous colonies in 1750 A.D.
2. Britain issued mercantilist policies to the colonies.
3. The colonies were home to various religious and ethnic groups during the mid-century.
B. Growing Discontent
1. After 1763 Britain and the colonies started to lose their ties with each other.
2. The colonies began to revolt against Britain about all the taxes and unfair treatment.
3. 1770 a group of British soldiers opened fire on a crowed in Boston.
C. The American Revolution
1. The colonies did not have the proper military to go up against the British forces.
2. After beating the British in the battle of Saratoga in 1777 the colonies convinced the French to help them defeat the British.
3. 1781 General Washington forced the British to surrender at Yorktown.
D. A New Constitution
1. During the summer of 1787 the American leader meet in Philadelphia and created the Constitution.
2. The time of Enlightenment was studied greatly by the founding fathers of America.
3. 1789 the Constitution became the law.
4. The constitution created one of the most liberal governments of its time.