Scientific Revolution and
Enlightenment
The Earth is not flat after all, and it is
not the center of the universe.
Medieval Belief
 The Earth was an immovable object in
which the Sun, Moon, and other planets
revolved around.
 This was known as the geocentric theory.
Scientific Revolution
 Beginning in the mid 1500’s people began
to question these theories.
 This launched the Scientific Revolution.
“
[The] new Philosophy calls all in
doubt,
The Element of fire is quite put out;
The Sun is lost, and th'earth, and no
man's wit
Can well direct him where to look for it
[5]
”
Nicolaus Copernicus
 Copernicus questioned the geocentric
theory.
 He went back to the Greek idea that the sun
was the center of the universe.
 This became known as the heliocentric
theory.
 He published his ideas in 1543 in the book
On the Revelations of the Heavenly Bodies.
Johannes Kepler
 Using his teacher, Tycho Brahe’s work
Kepler determined that certain
mathematical laws governed planetary
movement.
 One of the laws he stated was that the
planets revolve around the sun in an
elliptical not a circular pattern.
 They also proved Copernicus’ basic ideas
were true.
Galileo Galilei
 Galileo created his own telescope. With
this he made several startling discoveries.
 He found that the Moon was actually solid,
Jupiter had four moons, and along with his
laws of motion his findings supported
Copernicus’ ideas.
Quiz over movie
 What was the date not the year Isaac
Newton was born?
 What field of math did he invent?
 How did he discover gravity?
Isaac Newton
 He brought the ideas of Copernicus, Kepler, and
Galileo under one single theory of motion.
 His greatest discovery was that one force affected
matter on both Earth and in the heavens.
 This force was gravity.
 He wrote down his ideas in a book called The
Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.
Galileo’s Problems with the
Church
 Galileo’s ideas had offended many members
of the Catholic Church.
 He was warned to stop speaking about his
ideas, however he published a book that
covered these ideas.
 Because of this he spent the rest of his life
under house arrest.
Enlightenment changes
Everything
 Thomas Hobbes: Believed that the best
government was one in which people gave
up their rights to a strong leader. In return
they got law and order.
 The ideal government according to Hobbes
was laid out in his book Leviathan.
John Locke Disagrees with
Hobbes
 His view on politics was more positive than
Hobbes.
 According to Locke all people are born free
and equal and have three basic rights: life,
liberty, and property.
 He said the government’s power was based
on the consent of the people.
Voltaire
 Voltaire published more than 70 books of
political essays, philosophy, and drama.
 He criticized the clergy, the aristocracy, and
government.
 Voltaire fought for tolerance, reason,
freedom of religion, and freedom of speech.
 “I do not agree with a word you say but will
defend to the death your right to say it.”
Quiz
 What force did Newton say controlled affected
matter on both Earth and in space?
 What field of math did he invent?
 What was name of Newton’s book?
 How did Thomas Hobbes say government should
be run?
 What was John Locke’s ideas on government?
 What U.S. document was heavily influenced by
Locke’s writings?
 Explain the quote by Voltaire.
Montesquieu
 He championed the idea of separation of
powers.
 This means that a government has separate
branches that controlled the different
functions of government.
Rousseau
 He was a big supporter of individual
freedoms.
 He believed that the best government was a
direct democracy.
 Famous quote: “Man is born free, and
everywhere he is in chains.”
A Question
 What country in today’s world used the
ideas of the men we just discussed to form
their government?
Age of Revolutions
The many fights for freedom.
Absolutism
 This is where a ruler, such as a king, has
complete control of their countries
government, judicial system, military, and
economics.
Louis XIV
 Known as the “Sun King.”
 Louis weakened the power of the nobles by
removing them from his council.
 Replaced them with government agents known as
intendants. They collected taxes and administered
justice. Most of the economic affairs were handled
by Jean Baptiste Colbert.
 Louis also kept his nobles in line by forcing them
to come to his palace at Versailles.
Louis XIV Legacy
 He left France as one of the major powers
of Europe.
 France ranked above all nations when it
came to art, literature, and statesmanship.
 It was the military leader of Europe.
 On the negative sides Louis’ many wars and
building of Versailles plunged into debt.
 Resentment over high taxes eventually led
to the revolution.
Tsar Peter the Great
 Known in history as Peter the Great because
he was one of Russia’s greatest reformers.
 Peter’s great reform was the westernization
of Russia using Western Europe as a model.
Peter as an Absolute Ruler
 He placed the Russian Orthodox Church
under his control.
 Reduced the power of the landowner.
 He developed the army into a more modern
one.
 To pay for this army he levied heavy taxes.
Tokugawa Ieyasu
 Tokugawa was the man who united Japan.
 He founded the Tokugawa Shogunate,
which held power until 1867.
 He was the shogun, who was the person
actually in control of the country.
 He used feudalism to control Japan.
This is why we take notes.
 Define Absolutism.
 What was Louis XIV nickname?
 Describe Louis XIV legacy.
 How did Tsar Peter the Great reform
Russia?
 Who united Japan?
 What type of government did he use to rule
Japan?
The Revolutions
 England (1689): This is known as the
Glorious Revolution. It occurred when
James II tried to restore Catholicism in
England.
 In response Parliament invited William and
Mary of Orange to be King and Queen.
James abdicated without a fight.
American Revolution
 Causes:The spread of ideas by Enlightened
thinkers; Stamp Act (Taxation Without
Representation); French and Indian War
(Colonists felt they had won the war and
deserved freedom); “Boston Tea Party”;
Boston Massacre.
 Outcome: After a long five year war the
American colonists gain their independence
from Great Britain.
Haitian Slave Revolt
 Using the slave labor on sugar and coffee
plantations Haiti produced more wealth than
all 13 American colonies combined.
 However, the slaves suffered terribly. They
had little food, they were overworked,
tortured, and murdered.
 The slaves revolted in 1791 against the
French. However, the British and Spanish
tried to invade and take control.
Francois Dominique Toussaint
L’Ouverture
 This man would lead the people of Haiti in the
new struggle against the English and Spanish.
 With the help of the French he is able to defeat the
invaders.
 Toussaint then abolishes slavery, but is tricked into
going to France where he is put in prison and dies.
His followers do eventually overthrow the French
and Haiti becomes independent in 1804.
Simon Bolivar leads the Latin
American Revolution
 Bolivar and the people of Latin America had
grown tired of Spanish rule for several reasons:
 1. Only people from Spain, peninsulares, were
allowed to rule. Creoles, Spaniards born in Latin
America could not.
 2. Spain was unable to keep its colonies in good
conditions.
 3. Bolivar followed the example set by the
American colonist. He wanted South America to
be one democratic country.
Bolivar is both Successful and
Unsuccessful
 Bolivar does drive the Spanish out of South
America. However, he is not able to unite
the entire continent.
 Today, Latin Americans still hold him in
high esteem.
Viva la Revolution
 “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was
the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the
epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the
season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the
spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had
everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were
all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the
other way--in short, the period was so far like the present
period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its
being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative
degree of comparison only.” Charles Dickens, A Tale of
Two Cities
The Summer of Hope
 During the 1770’s the social and political systems
were still under the Old Regime or estate system.
 The top two of these estates had certain rights,
including access to high offices, tax exemptions.
The Third Estate did not have these rights.
 The Third Estate was made up of three groups.
First group-bourgeoisie were the middle class; the
second group were the workers; the third group
was the peasants.
The Winter of Despair
 The Third Estate felt they were getting treated
unfairly.
 The ideas of the Enlightenment writers began to
stir up the Third Estate, and lead them toward
revolution.
 The economy was in trouble. The heavy burden
the taxes placed on the Third Estate was almost
impossible to handle.
 France also, had a weak leader. King Louis XVI.
The Revolution Unfolds
 Instead of dealing with the money issue
early on Louis waited until he was almost
broke.
 He then decides to tax the nobility.
 The nobles then forced him to call the
Estates-General (Parliament).
 There all three estates met to decide on the
tax. The Third Estate wanted the new tax.
The other two estates did not.
The National Assembly
They knew they were going to be outvoted, so
they decided to form a National Assembly to pass
laws for the people.
Three days later when the Estates-General reassembled the National Assembly was locked out.
They then broke into a tennis court and took an
oath not to leave until they had formed a
constitution. This is known as the Tennis Court
Oath.
The Storming of the Bastille
 On July 14, 1789 the citizens of Paris
stormed a political prison and destroyed it.
 This became a French national holiday.
Women force the King and Queen to
leave.
 In October 1789, thousands of women
rioted over the price of bread being raised.
 In response the Louis and Marie Antoinette
left Versailles.
 The exit signaled a change in power in
France.
Reforms of the Revolution
 The Declaration of the Rights of Man was
formed. This said “men are born and
remain free and equal in rights.”
 They placed the Church under the control of
the state.
 Louis and Marie Antoinette try to flee
France.
Events leading to The Reign of
Terror
 Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette are
captured while trying to get into Austria.
 The Legislative Assembly was formed to
create laws and approve or reject
declarations of war.
 The king still had the power to enforce
laws.
 Factions soon began to form within the
Legislative Assembly.
Jacobins Take Control and the Kings
Head
 A debating club lead by Jean-Paul Marat
gains control of politics in France.
 Marat and his followers called for the death
of those who still supported the king, and
the king himself.
 On January 21, 1793 they got their wish and
King Louis XVI was beheaded.
The Terror Comes
 Soon another Jacobin comes to power. This
was Maximillien Robespierre.
 He becomes virtually a dictator, and leader
of the Committee for Public Safety.
 The next year became known as the Reign
of Terror.
 During this time between 17,000 and
40,000 people were beheaded by the
guillotine for crimes against the people.
The Terror Ends
 In July of 1794 the National Convention
turned on Robespierre, and he was
beheaded.
 By 1795 the long and bloody revolution was
over. Soon a new leader would emerge to
change the course of European History.
Napoleon builds an Empire
 In 1795 Napoleon comes to power. He was
the hero of the hour.
 Soon he would create an Empire.
The Achievements of Napoleon
Bonaparte (Government)
 Napoleon with a sudden seizure of power
called a coup d’etat.
 The Napoleonic Code: Considered
Napoleon’s greatest achievement in
government. This gave the country a
uniformed set of laws and eliminated many
injustices.
 However, it did restrict certain liberties and
restore slavery to the French colonies.
Napoleon Conquers Europe
 First the problems: Lost Haiti; sold Louisiana
Territory to United States for 15 million dollars.
 Napoleon then turned his attention to Europe.
Great Britain, Russia, Austria, and Sweden joined
against France.
 However, on land they were no match for
Napoleon. His most brilliant victory was at
Austerlitz. His only defeat for the first decade of
the 19th century was at sea at the Battle of
Trafalgar.
The Extent of Napoleon’s Empire
 By 1812, the only areas free from French
control were Britain, Portugal, Sweden, and
the Ottoman Empire.
 While it was a large empire it was unstable,
and would quickly fall.
Napoleon Tries to Control the
Empire
 His greatest foe was England. He could not
defeat their navy, so he wage economic
warfare.
 This became known as the Continental
System. This was supposed to prevent
British goods into Europe, and vice-versa.
 This would eventually become the major
problem for Napoleon.
Napoleon’s Empire Crumbles
 The Peninsular War: In 1808 Napoleon sent
an invasion force through Spain to invade
Portugal. Spain Rebelled.
 The Spanish Rebels used guerrillia warfare
to fight the French. In all the French lost
300,000 men in this war.
Invasion of Russia
 This was Napoleon’s greatest mistake. The
Russians did not stand and fight an open
battle.
 They instead let their climate do the dirty
work. They also used a scorch-earth policy
to deny Napoleon of supplies.
 Eventually, Napoleon retreats. By the time
he got back to Paris his force had fallen
from 420,000 to 10,000.
The First Exile
 Due to his defeat in Russia his army was
left weak, and eventually this allows Prussia
and Russia to invade and he is forced into
exile on St. Elba Island.
 However, by March 1, 1815 he is back in
power in France.
 He again raises an army and goes to war.
Battle of Waterloo
 On June 18, 1815 Napoleon engages British
forces under the Duke of Wellington near a
small Belgium town of Waterloo.
 This becomes a three day battle that ends in
the defeat of Napoleon’s Army.
 Napoleon is then exiled to St. Helena Island
where he died in 1821.
Congress of Vienna
 This was a series of meetings in Vienna,
Austria designed to set up a system that
would provide security and order in Europe.
China meets the West
 China had resisted outside influence for
centuries.
 Because China was largely self-sufficient it
had little use for trade with Westerners.
 However, European merchants found the
product that China would buy.
 This was Opium.
Opium War
 By 1839 many Chinese were addicted to
Opium, so their government and people
tried to prevent the trade of opium by the
British.
 This led to the Opium War of 1839.
 It was largely fought at sea, and the Chinese
were no match for the British. China would
now be under the influence of westerners.
Taiping Rebellion
 This was led by Hong Xiuquan.
 He amassed a peasant army of over 1 million.
 Soon they had control of much southeastern
China. In 1853 they captured Nanjing.
 However, this did not last long because the leaders
began feuding, and the British, French, and Qing
Dynasty began attacking the Rebels. In all 20
million people died in this rebellion.
Spheres of Influence
 Due to its inability to stop foreign countries
from controlling its economy China was
broken into spheres of influence.
 This is where a country has an investment
in a specific area of another country.
 In China these countries included Great
Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and the
United States of America.