Scientific, Philosophical, and Political Developments Key Terms and Key People

Mercantilism

Prevailing economic system of the growing nation states, economic system to maintain a favorable balance of trade, imbalance of exports over imports, was used to get precious metals from indigenous peoples to pay for the costs of maintain standing armies and government bureaucracies

Discourse on Method

Written by Rene Descartes, the book defined two kinds of matter: thinking substance (everything within the mind) and extended substance (the objective world or everything outside the mind)

Seven Years’ War

Culmination of a competition for colonies and for hegemony on the Continent, fought by Britain and its allies against France and its allies, first war that the Europeans fought on multiple continents; battles occurred in North America, Europe, and Asia, British won a battle against French in India at the Battle of Plassey (1757) —> British dominance of India until after World War II, war resulted in loss of France’s North American possessions and in the growing independence of the British North American colonies

Capitalism

Another term for money used as an investment, instead of investing labor, an individual invests capital in some venture in order to make a profit, joint stock companies, chartered companies, bourse, Bank of England founded, new definitions of property rights

Deism

Religious ideal in which God was a kind of cosmic clock maker who created a perfect universe in which He does not have to intervene

Scientific Revolution

A period of significant scientific advancements in Europe = shift towards empirical observation, mathematical reasoning, and the scientific method

The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment was a transformative intellectual and cultural movement that dominated Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, emphasizing reason, logic, and individual rights over traditional authority and dogma. It championed the idea that human reason could be used to understand the natural world and improve society, leading to significant advancements in science, politics, and philosophy

Physiocrats

Physiocrats were a group of French economists in the 18th century who advocated for free trade and minimal government intervention in the economy, believing that the natural order governed economic processes. They emphasized agriculture as the primary source of wealth, contrasting with the mercantilist focus on manufacturing and foreign trade

War of Spanish Succession

The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between supporters of the French Bourbons and the Austrian Habsburgs.

Nine Years’ War

The Nine Years' War (1688–1697) was a conflict provoked by the French king. Louis XIV was pushing his expansive Reunion politics. In the process, French troops ravaged the Electoral Palatinate and neighboring areas. There was a struggle in the Electoral Palatinate for Liselotte's inheritance

Adam Smith

Adam Smith was an 18th-century Scottish philosopher; he is considered the father of modern economics. Smith is most famous for his 1776 book, "The Wealth of Nations,” which defined capitalism and talked about supply and demand. Smith's writings were studied by 20th-century philosophers, writers, and economists.

Rene Descartes

An ardent advocate for the deductive method, wrote Discourse on Method which defined two kinds of matter: thinking substance (everything within the mind) and extended substance (the objective world or everything outside the mind), division of reality is known as Cartesian dualism, he invented analytical geometry and “I think therefore I am”

Nicolaus Copernicus

Responsible for spreading the heliocentric (sun-centered) theory of the solar system throughout Europe, his On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres was published posthumously

Galileo Galilei

The best example of the Enlightenment emerging from the Renaissance, was a master of many sciences and tried to know everything he could, astronomical observations of the moons of Jupiter proved that Earth was not the center of the universe, which caused him to be put under house arrest by the Roman Catholic Church, experiments with inertia proved that objects of different weights fall at the same rate

Isaac Newton

Towering giant of the Scientific Revolution, demonstrated that natural laws of motion account for the movement of heavenly bodies and earthly objects, he chaired the Royal Society of London

Johannes Kepler

Was Brahe’s assistant, Kepler discovered three laws of planetary motion that helped Newton later understand gravity, he also proved that the orbits of planets are ellipses

Madame Geoffrin

One of the leading Enlightenment personalities, used her husband’s money to host the liveliest salon in France, she created an independent setting free from censorship where diverse, educated people could form their public opinions, supported the publishing of the Encyclopedie

Voltaire

Personified the Age of Reason, more writer than philosopher, wrote in many formats, preached against injustice and bi

Jean-Jacques Rosseau

Believed rationalism and civilization were destroying rather than liberating the individual, he emphasized nature and passion, and he influenced the early Romantic movement, was against the culture of the Enlightenment, believed that the general will reflects public opinion and the people should displace the monarch as the holder of sovereign power. His work Emile = showing greater love and tenderness toward children, for not using wet nurses, and for not swaddling babies. He claimed this showed the growth of humanitarianism and potential from the Enlightenment (The Social Contract)

Baron de Montesquieu

Defined the theory of separation of powers of the three branches of government, outlined a system of checks and balances by which a gov could be controlled, discussed what conditions were favorable to liberty and admired the English balance of power, satirized European society as well in The Persian Letters, his work helped design most of the governmental system in the world today

Denis Diderot

Editor of the first European Encyclopedia, which was supported by Voltaire and Catherine II (the Great) of Russia, writer and member of prominent salons in Paris

Francois Quesnay

Led the physiocrats, whose motto was laissez-faire, they believed that government should remove all restraints to free trade, such as tariffs, so that the natural laws of economics were free to operate for the good of society

Mary Wollstonecraft

The first true feminist, defender of the Declaration of the Rights of Man, mother of Mary Shelley, believed marriage was legalized prostitution, engaged in a public debate with Edmund Burke about the French Revolution and in a private debate with Rousseau on the rights of women (A Vindication on the Rights of Man, A Vindication on the Rights of Women, and Thoughts on the Education of Daughters)

Louis XIV

Louis XIV's actions, particularly his strong support of absolute monarchy and his revocation of the Edict of Nantes, were in direct contrast to the core principles of the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment emphasized reason, individual rights, and the idea of a social contract, all of which challenged the divine right of kings and the absolute power of monarchs like Louis XIV

Frederick II (the Great)

(Prussia), “first servant of the state,” military genius who made Prussia a major power in Europe, was an urbane and educated man who patronized the great Voltaire, a domestic reformer who improved education, codified laws, fostered industry, invited immigration, and extended religious tolerance

Joseph II

Son of Maria Theresa, furthered his mom’s reforms by guaranteeing freedom of the press and of religion, by reforming the judicial system toward greater equality for all classes, by making German the official language for the empire’s many ethnic minorities in order to foster civilization, and especially by abolishing serfdom

Philip II

Philip II of Spain did not actively participate in the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment was a philosophical and intellectual movement that took place in the 18th century, while Philip II reigned in the 16th century. His actions and reign were primarily focused on strengthening Catholicism and expanding his empire, rather than the philosophical ideals of the Enlightenment

Peter I (the Great)

Peter the Great, during the Enlightenment, spearheaded significant Westernization and modernization efforts in Russia. He introduced reforms inspired by Enlightenment ideas, including secular education, military modernization, and administrative restructuring, all aimed at catching up with Western European nations

Maria Theresa

Mom to Joseph II, they both qualified as genuine enlightened despots, War of the Austrian Succession was fought over the issue of whether or not Maria Theresa could inherit her kingdom and also gave Silesia to Prussia, Maria Theresa was determined to strengthen the realm by centralizing the government, promoting commerce, and limiting the power of the nobles

Frederick William I

Frederick the Great, while an absolute monarch, implemented several reforms inspired by Enlightenment ideals, including modernizing the Prussian bureaucracy, promoting religious tolerance, reforming the judicial system, and encouraging freedom of the press. He also supported the arts and sciences, and corresponded with leading Enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire

Catherine II (the Great)

German who succeeded to the Russian throne after the murder of her husband Czar Peter III, was a patron of many of the French philosophers and considered herself an enlightened despot, she at first tried to dismiss the Pugachev Rebellion, then took it more seriously and ended her enlightened reforms, she annexed both Polish and Ottoman land