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The Enlightenment and The
American Revolution
Chapter 17
Scientific Revolution Sparks the
Enlightenment
 Transformed the way people looked at
the world
 Natural Law was introduced
 Led to enlightened thinking
Hobbes and Locke Have Conflicting
Views
 Hobbes Believes in Powerful Government
 Key Enlightenment thinker
 Wrote Leviathin
 Believed people should be strictly
controlled
 Believed in the Social Contract
Hobbes and Locke Have Conflicting
Views
 Locke Advocates Natural Rights
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More optimistic view of human nature
He believed in Natural Rights
Wrote Two Treatises of Government
People wanted governments to defend their natural rights
Ideas would influence the American Revolution
The Philosophes
 Montesquieu Advances the Idea of Separation of
Powers
 People who believed that reason could lead to reform of
government
 Studied the governments of Europe
 Criticized any monarchies
 Wrote The Spirit of Laws
 Felt the best way protect liberty was to divide the
government
 Wanted a legislative, executive and judicial branch of
government to divide powers
 Branches should be able to check each others’ powers
The Philosophes
 Voltaire Defends Freedom of Thought
 Targeted corrupt officials
 Battled inequality, injustice, and
superstition
 Was imprisoned then exiled
 Books were burned
The Philosophes
 Diderot Edits the Encyclopedia
 Created the 28 volume set
 Wanted the change the general way of
thinking
 Denounced slavery
 Encyclopedia was published in multiple
languages
 Helped spread enlightenment ideas
The Philosophes
Rousseau
 Believed people were
basically good
 Believed society placed
too many restrictions on
human behavior
 Expressed his thoughts in
The Social Contract
Women
 Enlightenment didn’t
apply to women
 A Vindication of the
Rights of Woman was
written by Wollstonecraft
New Economic Thinking
 Laissez Faire Replaces Mercantilism
 French focused on economic reforms
 Believed government should stay out of
private business
 Businesses and Markets should operate
with little government control
New Economic Thinking
 Smith Argues for a Free Market
 Adam Smith was a prominent economist
 Wrote The Wealth of Nations
 Believed in free market without
government interference
 Believed in forces of supply and demand
New Ideas Challenge Society
 Writers Face Censorship
 Churches and governments wanted to
protect old ways
 They censored access to ideas or
information
 Writers would disguise their work in arts
of fiction
New Ideas Challenge Society
 Ideas Spread in Salons
 Thinkers would gather to discuss ideas
 Salons began in Paris with noblewomen
inviting people over to their houses
 Eventually middle class women held
salons
Arts and Literature
 From Grandeur to Charm
 Used to paint in baroque style
 Louis XV was much less formal
 Held lighter more elegant affairs
Arts and Literature
 The Enlightenment Inspires Composers
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New forms of music developed
Switched to Rocco style of art and music
Classical music soon followed
Ballets and Operas started to perform
Johann Sebastian Bach was one of the most famous
composers
 Franz Joseph Haydn was a key classical composer
 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a child prodigy and composer
 Wrote operas and symphonies
Arts and Literature
 The Novel Takes Shape
 More people were able to read
 They wanted more novels to read
 Many popular tales were written
 Daniel Defoe wrote Robinson Crusoe
 Story about a shipwrecked sailor on a
tropical island
Enlightened Despots Embrace New Ideas
 Frederick II Attempts Reform
 Called Frederick the Great of Prussia
 Believed that he served for the common good of
the state
 Respected Voltaire
 Allowed free press and reduced torture
 Reorganized the government
 Reformed laws
 Showed toleration for all religions
Enlightened Despots Embrace New Ideas
 Catherine The Great Studies Philosophes’
Work
 Empress of Russia
 Believed in equality and liberty
 Abolished torture
 Established religious tolerance
 Did not completely give up power
Enlightened Despots Embrace New Ideas
 Joseph II Continues Reform
 Eager to learn of the enlightenment
 Supported religious equality
 Abolished serfdom
 Allowed free press
Lives of the Majority Slowly Change
 Most people still remained peasants
 Soon equality would take root in the
small villages
Britain Becomes a Global Power
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Central location for international trade
Had a favorable climate for business
Won many wars
Soon they acquired Scotland and Wales
King George became the first English King born in
England
 King George tried to exert control by putting
friends in parliament
American Colonies in the 1700’s
 Stretch of colonies along North America’s Northeast
coast became British Colonies
 Boston, New York and Philadelphia became extremely
busy ports
 Applied mercantilist policies to colonies
 Passed the Navigation Act to control colonial trade
 Many different religious colonies formed in the
Northeast
 There were less social distinctions
 Wanted to have same rights as English citizens
Colonists Express Discontent
 Colonists Rebel Against Britain
 Great Britain passed the Stamp Act, a tax on all
paper goods in the colonies
 People believed in no taxation without
representation
 The Boston Massacre, with 5 killed, happened in
1770
 The Boston Tea Party followed in 1773
 Representatives of the colonies gathered in
Philadelphia
Colonists Express Discontent
 Colonists Declare Independence
 The Lexington and Concord Battle started the American
Revolution
 Soon a continental army was set up under George
Washington
 In 1776 the Second Continental Congress declared
independence from Great Britain
 Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the
Declaration of Independence
 Introduced the idea of popular sovereignty
The American Revolution Continues
 France Provides Support
 The American soldiers were losing the war
 Colonists understood the geography better
 Won first battle in Saratoga in 1777
 France joined in as an ally of the colonists
 The Netherlands and Spain soon joined the fight
with colonists
The American Revolution Continues
 Treaty of Paris End the War
 French helped block the British fleet
 Washington was able to force a surrender from
the British
 The Treaty of Paris was signed where Britain
would recognize the independence of the United
States of America
A New Constitution
 Enlightenment Ideas Have Great Impact
 James Madison and Benjamin Franklin worked to
draft the Constitution
 Studied Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau
 Created a federal republic, power is divided
between states
 Created three separate branches of government:
executive, judicial and legislative
 Introduced the Bill of Rights
A New Constitution
 Symbol of Freedom
 US had the most progressive government of the
day
 US Constitution would be copied and adapted
over and over throughout history
Vocabulary
Natural Law
rules of conduct discoverable by reason
Thomas Hobbes
Introduced the Social Contract Theory
John Locke
Introduced the idea that all people had natural rights
Social Contract
an agreement by which people give up their freedom
to a powerful government in order to avoid chaos
Natural Rights
Rights that belong to all humans from birth, such as
life, liberty, and property
Philosophe
French for philosopher, French thinker who desired
reform in society during the enlightenment
Vocabulary
Montesquieu
Believed in separation of powers in the
government
Voltaire
Wrote about French corruption, politics and
religion
Diderot
Author of the encyclopedia
Rousseau
Rousseau-Wrote the
Laissez Faire
Policy allowing businesses to operate with little or
no government involvement
Adam Smith
Believed in the economic powers of supply and
demand
Vocabulary
Censorship
Restriction on access to ideas and information
Salons
-informal social gathering at which writers, authors,
philosophes and other exchanged ideas
Baroque
ornate style of art and architecture popular in the
1600s and 1700s
Rococo
Personal, elegant style of art and architecture made
popular in the 1700s that featured designs with the
shapes of leaves, shells, and flowers
Enlightened
Despot
Absolute ruled who used his or her power to bring
about political and social change
Frederick the
Great
Enlightened despot of Prussia
Vocabulary
Catherine the Great
Enlightened empress of Russia
Joseph II
Enlightened despot in Austria
George III
First English born monarch in England
Stamp Act
George Washington
Law passed in 1765 by the British Parliament
that imposed taxes on items such as
newspapers and pamphlets in the American
Colonies; repealed in 1766
General of the American Armies
Thomas Jefferson
Author of the Declaration Independence
Vocabulary
Popular
Sovereignty
Basic principle of the American system of government
which asserts that the people are the source of any and
all governmental power, and government can only exist
with the consent of the governed
Yorktown, Virginia Place of surrender by the British
Treaty of Paris
Treaty that ended the American Revolution and
recognized the independence of the United States of
America
James Madison
Co-author of the Constitution
Benjamin Franklin Co-author of the Constitution
Federal Republic
Government in which the power is divided between the
national, or federal, government and the states