Enlightenment, Revolutions, and Industrial Revolution Notes

Enlightenment

  • Definition: A period where philosophers applied new ways and empiricist approaches to understand the natural world and human relationships.

    • Empiricist approach: Learning through observed experiences.

  • Context:

    • Questioned established positions.

    • Connected to the Protestant Reformation, the Scientific Revolution, and the Renaissance.

  • Impact:

    • Led to revolutions for independence or constitutional representation.

Major Thinkers

  • John Locke:

    • Believed in natural rights.

    • Advocated for the right to overthrow the government if it disobeys natural rights.

  • Thomas Hobbes:

    • Believed people should give up their rights to the government.

    • Held a pessimistic view of people.

  • Montesquieu:

    • Advocated for the separation of powers.

    • His ideas influenced the US government.

  • Voltaire:

    • Believed in religious liberty and tolerance.

  • Rousseau:

    • Supported the social contract:

      • Initially established by Locke and Hobbes.

    • Believed in following the general will of the people.

  • Adam Smith:

    • Economist who advocated for laissez-faire economics for capitalism.

    • His ideas drove the Industrial Revolution.

Idealistic Movements

  • Conservatism:

    • Holding on to traditional institutions.

  • Classical Liberalism:

    • Government hands-off approach.

  • Feminism & Abolitionism:

    • Advocated for equality.

    • Figures like Mary Wollstonecraft.

  • Zionism:

    • Developed, primarily after World War II.

Revolutions

  • Key Revolutions: American, French, Haitian, and Creole revolutions.

American Revolution

  • Influenced by Enlightenment ideas.

  • Sought economic freedom from British mercantilist policies.

French Revolution

  • The Third Estate (commoners) wanted more representation in the Estates-General.

  • They started their own assembly, leading to a revolution.

  • Aimed for constitutional representation.

Haitian Revolution

  • First successful slave revolt.

  • Toussaint Louverture was well-versed in Enlightenment ideas.

Creole Revolutions

  • Creoles (white people born in South America) wanted more rights.

  • They were upset that Peninsulares (people from Spain) got preference in government positions.

  • Sought freedom from Spanish mercantilist policies.

  • Simon Bolivar:

    • A Creole who led the movement.

    • Wanted to create Gran Colombia, similar to the US.

    • Believed in abolitionism and free market ideals.

  • After the revolution, Creoles still held power, and social inequalities persisted.

  • The American Revolution inspired other nations and popularized the idea of popular sovereignty.

Industrialization

Origins in Great Britain

  • Agricultural Revolution:

    • Advancements like crop rotation and seed drill increased food production.

  • Medical Advances:

    • Increased population and workforce.

  • Efficient Production Methods:

    • Cottage industries rose.

  • Technological Advancements:

    • Spinning Jenny, water frame, interchangeable parts by Eli Whitney.

    • Led to the division of labor.

Reasons for Starting in Great Britain

  • Mineral Resources:

    • Rich coal deposits were key for running factories.

  • Colonies:

    • Provided natural resources and capital.

  • Waterways:

    • Facilitated transportation.

  • Protection of Property:

    • Incentivized industrialists to build companies.

  • Enclosure Movement:

    • Commons were enclosed, leaving peasants landless.

    • Peasants moved to urban areas for work.

Spread of Industrialization

  • Egypt and India:

    • Their industrialization was diminished due to British encroachment, which advanced their iron and shipbuilding industries.

  • Asia:

    • Japan and China faced different challenges and responses.

Japan

  • Under the Tokugawa Shogunate, they were isolated.

  • Meiji Restoration: Matthew Perry's arrival led to the realization of the need for industrialization and defense modernization.

    • They overthrew the Shogun.

    • Implemented reforms like the Prussian model for military and government.

    • Introduced conscription and reformed the education system.

  • They aimed to avoid China's fate in the face of world powers.

China( under Cixi)

Boxer rebllion go agiangs industrialization

  • Tried to industrialize through the Self-Strengthening Movement.

  • Brought in European advisors.

  • After the Sino-Japanese/Russian War, they implemented the Hundred Days of Reform, but Cixi repealed them.

Europe

  • Great Britain was the starting point.

  • France:

    • Slowed by sparse urban centers and internal/external conflict from the French Revolution.

  • Germany:

    • Slowed by political fragmentation.

    • Eventually became a steel and coal leader due to the Bessemer process.

  • USA:

    • Key in the Second Industrial Revolution, focusing on chemicals, electricity, and steel.

    • Benefited from human capital (immigrants and rural-to-urban migration).

  • Russia:

    • Rapidly industrialized after the 1917 communist takeover.

    • Focused on railroads, exports, and the Trans-Siberian Railroad to trade with Manchuria.

Ottoman Empire

  • Reforms to industrialize (the "sick man of Europe").

  • Tanzimat Reforms (by Mahmud II):

    • Centralized power.

    • Created secular schools for engineering and scientific studies.

    • Reformed the millet system.

  • Muhammad Ali (in Egypt):

    • Albanian officer who initiated state-sponsored industrialization.

    • Sponsored textile industries to compete with Great Britain and France.

    • Taxed prices high, leading to government control of agriculture (primarily coffee production).

    • Westernized the military and established factories to produce garments and buttons for uniforms.

  • Sultan Abdul Hamid initially supported internal reforms but maintained tight control, fearing seditious reforms; exiled the Young Turks and was responsible for the killing of thousands of Armenian Christians (Red Sultan).

Economic Development

  • Mercantilism was out, and laissez-faire economics was in.

  • Corporations:

    • Minimized risk as stockholders bought partial ownership.

    • Allowed larger economic activity, sometimes leading to monopolies.

  • Transnational Companies:

    • Unilever (Dutch and English venture) with factories in various countries and sourcing raw materials from Africa.

    • Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation operated beyond national boundaries.

  • Consumerism rose due to the growth of the middle class, increased living standards, and more available goods.

Reactions to Industrialization

  • Industrialization represented capitalism to its extreme.

  • Rise of industrialists replaced the land-owning class.

  • Widening gap between the rich and poor.

  • Rise of the middle class.

  • Labor Unions:

    • Initially not accepted but eventually advocated for workers and limited working days.

  • Voting Rights:

    • Expanded over time, giving more people the ability to vote.

  • Child Labor Laws:

    • Enacted due to unsafe conditions and children as young as five working in mills.

  • New Ideologies:

    • Utilitarianism (John Stuart Mill): Aimed to give good to the greatest amount of people.

    • Karl Marx (with Friedrich Engels):

      • Published The Communist Manifesto.

      • Stated the bourgeoisie was exploiting the proletariat and gaining all the wealth.

      • Believed the proletariat would overthrow the bourgeoisie.

      • Marx looked down on utopian socialists.

      • Marxism would lead to communism.

  • Declare of indepence

  • Declareation of right of man and citizen