scientific revolution, enlightenment, and the american revolution

thomas hobbes

wrote “The Leviathan”; invented the idea of the social contract and gave absolute power to the government; believed all people were inherently bad

john locke

believed all people are born a blank slate; invented the idea of natural rights (life, liberty, and property); believed if natural rights were encroached upon during the upholding of the social contract, the people should overthrow the gov

thomas hobbes

wrote “The Leviathan”; invented the idea of the social contract and gave absolute power to the government; believed all people were inherently bad

john locke

believed all people are born a blank slate; invented the idea of natural rights (life, liberty, and property); believed if natural rights were encroached upon during the upholding of the social contract, the people should overthrow the gov

rousseau

believed all people were born good; believed that education should nurture goodness and that everyone should be able to vote

voltaire

believed that uprisings were not plausible that people should have more basic rights; supported the rights of freedom of the press and speech

montesquieu

believed that, within the social contract, there should be separation of powers (and checks and balances)

mary wollstonecraft

english philosopher who helped reform women’s rights and the education system

denis diderot

condensed the knowledge of the enlightenment into the first encyclopedia (of essays)

madame geoffrin

held salons at which great thinkers of the French Revolution would get together and share ideas

Frederick II

king of prussia; increased the might of the army and expanded the country; reformed the judicial system and decreased censorship; most effective enlightened despot overall

joseph II

emperor of austria/the holy roman empire; issued the edict of toleration to ensure no religious persecution; tried to help serfs and integrate them into society as peasant farmers; ensured legal protection for all; decreased censorship; reformed education system; most enlightened but least effective ruler

catherine II

least enlightened ruler; queen of russia; expanded south and got russia its first warm water port; subscribed to enlightened ideals but did not act on it

mercantile wars

low intensity wars during the 1700s which ended with peace treaties between countries

war of spanish succession

1701 - 1714; louis XIV tried to establish someone who was french on the recently empty spanish throne; france vs everybody else; france lost but put a french person on the spanish throne

war of jenkin’s ear

1739 - 1748; english ships found smuggling were apprehended by spanish forces; england vs spain; rolls into war of spanish succession

war of austrian succession

frederick II tried to take over austrian land; england and prussia vs spain, france, and austria; maria teresa recognized as a legitimate ruler

7 years war

1756 - 1763; frederick tried to take more land from prussia; england and prussia vs everyone else; also called the french and indian war (native americans and french vs english and colonists)

american revolution

america, dutch, french, spanish vs england; smugglers agitated by taxes on luxury goods —> convince the people using example of the intolerable acts, taxation w/o representation, boston massacre; colonists win because of outside aid

articles of confederation

first constitution of the united states that gave little power to the government; didn’t allow them to tax or have an army; supported by the anti federalists and opposed by the federalists

shay’s rebellion

farmers lost land after the war (because of returning solders); revolted and the government could do nothing because their “army” was made up of farmers

1787 meeting at philadelphia

12 colonies joined to rewrite the constitution and give more power to the federal government

the declaration of independence

written by thomas jefferson and ratified in 1776; colonists leave the british empire