
1500s-1600s, Europe started to look at the world
differently.

1700s, scientists expanded European knowledge.
› Joseph Jenner and Antoine Lavoisier built the framework for
Chemistry.
› Edward Jenner developed vaccine for smallpox.

Used reason to discover natural laws. (laws that govern

This Scientific Revolution led to what is known as the
Enlightenment.
human nature)
› Enlightenment thinkers thought that through reason people &
governments could solve every social, political, and economic
problem.

Thomas Hobbes
› Expressed his ideas in a work called Leviathan.
 In it he argued that people are naturally cruel, greedy, and
selfish.
 Without control they would fight, rob and oppress each other.
 Life without laws would be solitary, poor, nasty, and brutish.
› To escape this “brutish life” people entered into a
social contract (agreement).

In which they gave up the “state of nature” for an organized
society.
› Believed only powerful governments could ensure
orderly society.
 He wanted an absolute monarchy.

John Locke
› Believed people were reasonable and moral.
› Thought people have natural rights (rights that belong to all humans
at birth).
 Included Life, Liberty, and the Property.
› In Two Treaties of Government, Locke argued that people formed
governments to protect their natural rights. (He preferred limited
power forms of government).
› He said the government has an obligation to the people it
governs.
 If government fails its obligations then people have the right to overthrow it.
› These ideas later spread across the world.

1700s France
› An influential thinker was Baron de Montesquieu.
 Studied governments of Europe.
 Studied European, Chinese and Native American
cultures.
› He criticized absolute monarchy.
› In 1748, he published The Spirit of the Laws.
 In it he wrote about governments throughout history.
 Wrote admiringly about Britain's limited monarchy.
 Liked the idea of separation of power in
government.
 Also liked “checks and balances”.

Separation of power, shares the power between
different areas or branches of government.
› The power of one branch can always be challenged by
another branch.
› This way each branch has an effect on the others.
› No one branch of government can get to much power.

Using the checks and balances system helps to
balance the power of the government.
 In
France, Philosophes applied methods of
science to better understand and improve
society.
› Thought use of reason could lead to reforms of
government, law, and society.
 Their
ideas spread across Europe and to
other continents.

One famous philosophe was Francois-Marie
Arouet.
› He later took the name Voltaire.
› He said, “My trade is to say what I think.”
› Used his intelligence to expose the abuses of his
day.
 He liked to target corrupt officials and idle aristocrats
 He detested the slave trade and deplored religious
prejudice.
› Voltaire’s outspoken attacks offended the French
government and the Catholic Church.
 He was later imprisoned and then exiled.
 Always continued to defend “Freedom of Speech”.

Denis Diderot
› Produced a 28-volume encyclopedia.
› His purpose was to change the general way of
thinking.
 In it he denounced slavery, praised freedom of expression, and
encouraged education.
 Attacked divine right and traditional religions.
› Pope threatened to excommunicate all those who
bought or read any of the encyclopedia volumes.
› Between 1751 and 1789, 20,000 copies were printed.
› Helped spread Enlightenment throughout Europe and
to the Americas.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a philosophe.
› He believed people were naturally good.
› Felt like this “good” was corrupted by society.
› In 1762, set forth his ideas in “The Social Contract”.
› He put his faith in “general will” or the best
conscience of the people.
› Felt like the individual should be subordinate to the
community.
› His work has influenced people for over 200 years.

Women didn’t have as much freedom as men.

Did have natural rights, but were limited to areas of
the home and family.

Mid-1700s, some women began to protest this.
› They questioned the notion that women were by nature
inferior to men.

Mary Wollstonecraft
› She accepted that women’s first duty was to be a mother.
› Felt like women should be able to decide what is in her own
interest and have some independence.
› Published “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman”.
 In it she called for equal education for men and women.

Physiocrats focused on economic reforms.
› They rejected mercantilism which required
government regulation of the economy.

Laissez Faire was a policy that allowed businesses
to operate with little government involvement.
› Physiocrats approved of this policy.
Mercantilists believed in in acquiring gold and
silver wealth through trade.
 Physiocrats believed that real wealth came from
making the land more productive.


British economist that greatly admired physiocrats.

In his work, The Wealth of Nations, he said free
market should be allowed to regulate business
activity.

He also believed in supply and demand methods.

He strongly approved and supported Laissez Faire.
› Still thought the government had a duty to protect society,
administer justice, and provide public service.

Smith’s ideas would greatly influence and help
shape the productive economies in the 1800s and
1900s.

Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, was the daughter of what
enlightened thinker, that worked for women’s rights during the
1700s?
› Mary Wollstonecraft

Who believed that the purpose of separation of powers was to
protect the liberty of the people?


Baron de Montesquieu
Who wrote and was the editor of the controversial Encyclopedia?
› Denis Diderot

Which philosopher believed that people were basically good?
› Jean-Jacques Rousseau

What author wrote Leviathan, and believed in social contract, but
once entered into that contract was absolute?
› Thomas Hobbes

Who wrote Two Treatises of Government, and believed in social
contract, but that contract could be broken?
› John Locke

Frenchman Francois-Marie Arouet, who exposed abuses
of government and detested the slave trade, was better
known as:
› Voltaire

Who was the British woman that thought women should
be free to choose and that girls and boys should be
educated?
› Mary Wollstonecraft

What book did Adam Smith write that said a free market
should be allowed to regulate business?
› The Wealth of Nations

Hands Off, or a policy that allows businesses to operate
without government interference is called:
› Laissez Faire

When people agree to give up their natural state for an
organized government, they are said to have entered
into a what?
› Social Contract

What were “Lovers of Wisdom” called that used reason
to lead to reforms of government, law, and society?
› Philosophes

A what believed that natural laws could be used to
define economic systems?
› Physiocrats

Life, liberty, and property are examples of what?
› Natural Rights

According to Hobbes and Locke, human nature was
governed by what?
› Natural laws

This person wrote Spirit of Law and came up with the
idea of three branches of government:
› Baron de Montesquieu
http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_cnb.html
http://www.congressforkids.net/Constitution_checksandbalances.htm
http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0777009.html