CHAPTER 22 - Enlightenment and Revolution (1550-1789) - World History: Patterns of Interaction (Atlas by Rand McNally 2009)

CHAPTER 22.1: The Scientific Revolution

• Most scholars in the Middle Ages believed that the earth was an immovable object located at the center of the universe and that the moon, sun, and all planets moved in perfectly circular paths around Earth (geocentric theory)

• The idea came from Aristotle

• Ptolemy expanded the theory in the 2nd century AD

• Christianity taught that God deliberately placed the earth at the center of the Universe

• Beginning of the mid-1500s: a few scholars published work that challenged the ideas of ancient thinkers and the church → the Scientific Revolution, a new way of thinking about the natural world

• European exploration → Europe having new knowledge of the outside world

• Invention of the printing press → spread challenging ideas old/new

• Age of European exploration fueled great amt of scientific research, especially in math/astronomy

• Navigators needed better instruments/geographic measurements

• Nicolaus Copernicus was interested in the geocentric theory and reasoned that the stars, earth, and other planets revolved around the sun (heliocentric theory)

• Fear of ridicule/persecution because his ideas did not align with religious views; he didn’t publish his ideas until 1543

• His book caused little conflict at first, other scientists built on his foundations

• Tycho Brahe produced mountains of accurate data based on his observations, but it was left to his followers to make sense of them

• Johannes Kepler, Brahe’s assistant concluded that certain mathematical laws govern planetary motion

• One of the laws showed that the planets revolve around the sun in elliptical orbits instead of circles

• Kepler’s laws proved Copernicus’ basic ideas true

• Galileo Galilei built his own telescope in 1609, in 1610 he published Starry Messenger, which described his observations

• Announced that Jupiter had 4 moons/the sun had dark spots

• Noted that the earth’s moon had a rough/uneven surface, shattering Aristotle’s theory that the moon/stars were pade of a pure, perfect substance

• His ideas supported Copernicus’

• Galileo’s findings scared Catholics/Protestant leaders b/c they went against church teaching/authority

• 1616: Catholic church warned Galileo to not defend Copernicus

• He was quiet, but continued his studies

• 1632: Galileo published Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems

• Presented both Copernicus/Ptolemy’s ideas, showed that Galileo supported the former

• 1633: Galileo stands before the court under the threat of torture, signed a confession that the ideas of Copernicus were false

• Continued to live under house arrest, died in 1642

• The scientific method: Logical procedure for gathering/testing ideas

• Francis Bacon/Rene Descartes helped advance this approach

• Bacon attacked medieval scholars for relying too heavily on the conclusions of Aristotle/other ancient thinkers

• Urged other scientists to experiment/draw conclusions (empiricism, the experimental method)

• Descartes developed analytical geometry (linked algebra/geometry) → provided important new tool for scientific research

• Descartes believed that scientists needed to reject old assumptions/teachings

• Unlike Bacon, Descartes relied on math/logic/believed that everything should be doubled until proved by reason

• Modern scientific methods are based on the ideas of Bacon/Descartes

• Isaac Newton was certain that all physical objects were affected equally by the same forces

• Discovered that the same force ruled motion of the planets/all matter on earth/in space

• The law of universal gravitation: every object in the universe attracts every other object

• 1687: Newton publishes The Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy

• Describes the universe like a giant clock/parts all worked together perfectly in ways that could be described mathematically

• Believed that God was the creator of this universe (the clockmaker to set everything in motion)

• Zacharias Janssen: invented the first microscope

• 1670s: Anton van Leeuwenhoek used a microscope to observe bacteria swimming in tooth scrapings/examined red blood cells for the first time

• 1643: Evangelista Torricelli developed the 1st mercury barometer

• 1714: Gabriel Fahrenheit made the 1st thermometer to use mercury in a glass

• Fahrenheit’s thermometer showed water freezing at 32 degrees

• 1742: Anders Celsius created another scale for the mercury thermometer, showing freezing at 0 degrees

• European doctors accepted ancient Greek physician Galen’s teachings as fact

• Galen had never dissected the body of a human being, instead studied pigs/other animals

• Galen assumed human anatomy was the same

• Andreas Vesalius proved Galen’s assumptions wrong

• He dissected human corpses/published his observations

• 1543: Published On the Structure of the Human Body, showed detailed drawings of human organs, bones, and muscle

• Late-1700s: Edward Jenner introduced a smallpox vaccine

• Inoculation using live smallpox germs were practiced in Asia for centuries

• Discovered that inoculation w/ germs from a cattle disease (cowpox) gave permanent protection from smallpox for humans

• Risks for this form of inoculation were much lower

• Robert Boyle pioneered the use of the scientific method in chemistry (considered the founder of modern chemistry)

• The Sceptical Chymist (1661) challenged Aristotle’s ideas that the physical world consisted of 4 elements (air, earth, fire, water)

• Proposed that matter was made up of smaller primary particles that joined together in different ways

• Most famous contribution to chemistry is Boyle’s law: explains how the volume, temperature, and pressure of gas affect each other

CHAPTER 22.2: The Enlightenment in Europe

• Scholars/philosophers re-evaluating old ideas/seeking new insight in govt, religion, economics, and education → the Enlightenment, a new intellectual movement that stressed reason, thought, the power of individuals to solve problems

• Started by 2 English political thinkers of the 1600s: Thomas Hobbes/John Locke:

• Hobbes:

• Leviathan (1651) expressed the horrors of the English Civil War convinced him that all humans were naturally selfish/wicked

• W/o govts to keep them in order, there would be war of every kind/life would be terrible

• Argued that in order to escape such a life, people had to hand over their rights to a strong ruler in exchange for law/order (social contract)

• The best government was an absolute monarchy that could impose order/demand obedience

• John Locke:

• Believed that people could learn from experience/improve themselves

• People had the natural idea to govern their own affairs/look after the welfare of society

• Criticized absolute monarchy, favored self-government

• All people are born free/equal, with 3 natural rights (life, liberty, property)

• The purpose of a govt is to protect these rights

• Enlightenment reached its height in France (mid-1700s)

• Philosophes: the social critics of this period in France

• They believed that people could apply reason to all aspects of life like Newton did to science

• 5 concepts that formed Philosophes’ core beliefs:

• Reason:

• Believed that truth could be discovered thru reason/logical thinking

• Nature:

• Believed that what was natural was good/reasonable

• Happiness:

• Rejected medieval notion that people should find joy in the hereafter/urged people to seek well-being on earth

• Progress:

• Stressed that society/humankind could improve

• Liberty:

• Called for liberties that the English people won in the Glorious Revolution/Bill of Rights

• Voltaire (Francois Marie Arouet) often used satire against his opponents/made frequent targets of the clergy, aristocracy, and govt

• Was sent to prison two times, the second time got him exiled to England for more than 2 years after that

• Never stopped fighting for tolerance, reason, freedom of religion/speech

• Baron de Montesquieu devoted himself to studying political liberty

• Believed that Britain was the best governed/most politically balanced country of his day

• British king/his ministers held executive power/carried out the laws of the state

• Members of Parliament held legislative power/made laws

• Judges held judicial power/interpreted the law to see how each applied to a specific case

• Referred to the division of power as separation of powers

• Oversimplified the British system (it did not actually separate powers this way), but the idea became part of On the Spirit of Laws (1748), which proposed that separation of powers would keep any individual/group from gaining total control of the govt

• Jean Jacques Rousseau: committed to individual freedom:

• Strongly disagreed with many Enlightenment thinkers on many matters:

• Argued that civilization corrupts people’s natural goodness

• Believed that the only good govt was one that was freely formed by the people/guided by the “general” will of society-- a direct democracy

• People agree to give up some of their freedom in favor of the common good

• Expressed this in The Social Contract (1762)

• Believed in a much broader democracy than Locke, argued that all people were equal/titles of nobility should be abolished

• Cesare Bonesana Beccaria believed that laws existed to preserve a social order, not to avenge crimes

• Regularly criticized common abuses of justice (torturing witnesses/suspects, irregular proceedings in trials, arbitrary/cruel punishments)

• Argued that a person accused of a crime should receive a speedy trial/torture should never be used

• Degree of punishment depends on the seriousness of the crime/capital punishment should be abolished

• Based his ideas about justice on the principle that govts should seek the greatest good for the greatest # of people

• Philosophes often took a more traditional view towards women

• Rousseau developed many progressive ideas about education, but believed that girls’ education should teach her how to be a helpful wife/mother

• Other male social critics scolded women for reading novels because they thought it encouraged idleness/wickedness

• Some male writers argued for more education for women/women’s equality in marriage

• Women writers also tried to improve their status

• 1694: Mary Astell published A Serious Proposal to the Ladies

• Addressed the lack of educational opportunities for women

• Later writings used Enlightenment arguments about govt to criticize the unequal relationship b/t men/women in marriage

• Mary Wollstonecraft published A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)

• Disagreed with Rousseau that women’s education should be secondary to men

• Argued that women, like men, need education to become virtuous/useful

• Urged women to enter male dominated fields of medicine/politics

• Wealthy women helped spread Enlightenment ideas through social gatherings (salons)

• Emilie du Châtelet: an aristocrat trained as a mathematician/physicist

• Translated Newton’s work from Latin to French → stimulated interest in science in France

• Philosophes encouraged reform, but were not active revolutionaries

• Their ideas would inspire revolutions (American/French revolutions/other movements in the 1800s)

• Enlightenment thinkers produced 3 long term effects that shaped Western civilization:

• Belief in progress:

• Galileo/Newton helped grow scientific knowledge in the 1700s

• Scientists made new discoveries in chemistry, biology, physics, and mechanics

• Successes of Scientific Revolution gave people confidence that reason could solve social problems

• Philosophes/reformers urged an end to the practice of slavery/argued for greater social equality/democratic style of government

• A more secular outlook:

• People began to question religious beliefs/Church teachings

• People used to accept mysteries of the universe as workings of God

• Voltaire/other critics wanted to rid religious faith of superstition/fear and promote tolerance of all religions

• Importance of the individual:

• People looked to themselves instead of religion

• Philosophes encouraged people to use their own ability to reason what was right/wrong

• Emphasized importance of the individual in society

• Argued that govt was formed by the individuals to promote their welfare

• Adam Smith extended emphasis on the individual to economic thinking/believed that individuals acting in their own self-interest created economic progress

CHAPTER 20.3: The Enlightenment Spreads

• 1700s Paris was the cultural/intellectual capital of Europe

• Young people from around Europe/Americas came to study, philosophize, and enjoy the culture

• Buzz of Enlightenment ideas were most intense in mansions of several wealthy women of Paris

• Hostesses held regular social gatherings called salons at which philosophers, writers, artists, scientists and other great intellects met to discuss ideas

• Marie-Therese Geoffrin (one of the most influential salon hostesses in Voltaire’s time) helped finance the project of Denis Dederot

• Diderot created a large set of books (Encyclopedia), began publishing the 1st volumes in 1751

• Enlightenment views expressed in the articles angered the French govt/Catholic Church

• Censors banned their work

• Claimed it undermined royal authority/encouraged a spirit of revolt/fostered “moral corruption, irreligion, and unbelief”

• Diderot continued publishing his Encyclopedia

• Enlightenment ideas eventually spread throughout newspapers, pamphlets, and political songs

• Enlightenment ideas abt govt/equality attracted the attention of a growing literate middle-class that could afford to buy many books/support the work of artists

• 1600s-early 1700s European art dominated by the baroque style, which was characterized by a grand, ornate design

• Styles began to change under influence of the Enlightenment

• Artists/architects worked in a simple/elegant style that borrowed ideas/themes from classical Greece/Rome

• The artistic style of the late 1700s is referred to as neoclassical (“new classical”)

• Music scene in Europe changed to reflect Enlightenment ideals

• Used to be dominated by Bach/George Friedrich Handel, who wrote dramatic organ/choral music

• During the Enlightenment, a classical style emerged (new, lighter, more elegant style of music)

• 3 composers that rank among the greatest figures in the classical period of music:

• Franz Joseph Haydn

• Mozart

• Beethoven

• A # of European authors began writing novels

• Had carefully crafted plots, used suspense, explored characters’ thoughts/feelings

• Popular with a wide middle-class audience

• Writers, including many women, turned out a flood of popular novels in the 1700s

• Samuel Richardson’s Pamela often considered the first true English novel

• A young servant girl who refuses the advances of her master

• Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones

• Tells the story of an orphan who travels all over England to win the hand of his lady

• Enlightenment ideas spread to Europe’s royal courts

• Philosophes tried to convince monarchs to rule justly

• Monarchs that embraced the new ideas/made reforms that reflected Enlightenment spirit referred to as enlightened despots (despots = absolute ruler)

• Enlightened despots supported philosophes’ ideas but had no intention of giving up power

• Changes they made were motivated by 2 desires:

• Making their countries stronger

• Making their own rule more effective

• Foremost of Europe’s enlightened despots:

• Frederick II of Prussia  (r. 1740-1786)

• Granted many religious freedoms

• Reduced censorship

• Improved education

• Reformed the justice system/abolished torture

• Believed that serfdom was wrong, but didn’t do anything to end it since he needed wealthy landowners’ support → never tried changing the social order

• Called himself the “first servant of the state”, made it clear that his goal was to serve/strengthen his country, appealed to philosophes

• Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II of Austria (r. 1780-1790)

• The most radical royal reformer

• Introduced legal reforms/freedom of press

• Supported freedom of worship, even for Protestants, Orthodox Christians, and Jews

• Abolished serfdom/ordered that peasants be paid for their labor with cash

• Nobles resisted this change

• Many of Joseph’s reforms was undone after his death

• Catherine the Great of Russia (r. 1762-1796)

• Ruled with absolute authority but also sought to reform Russia

• 1767: formed a commission to review Russia’s laws

• Presented with a brilliant proposal for reforms based on Montesquieu/Beccaria’s ideas

• Recommended allowing religious toleration/abolishing torture/capital punishment

• Her commission accomplished none of these goals

• Eventually put in place limited reforms but did little to improve Russian peasants’ lives

• Views about enlightened ideas changed after serf uprising in 1773, Catherine’s army crushed the rebellion

• Catherine favored an end to serfdom, but the revolt convinced her that she needed noble support to keep her throne

• Catherine sought access to the Black Sea

• 2 years of war w/ Ottoman Turks, her armies won control of northern shore of the Black Sea

• Russia also gained the right to send ships thru Ottoman controlled straits leading from Black Sea → Mediterranean Sea

• Catherine expanded her empire westward to Poland

• King was relatively weak in Poland/independent nobles held the most power

• Russia, Prussia, and Austria tried to assert their influence in Poland

• 1772: the three powers each took a piece of Poland in the First Partition of Poland

• Poland disappeared as an independent country for more than a century b/c of further partitions in 1793/1795

• Catherine vastly enlarged Russian empire by the end of her reign

CHAPTER 22.4: The American Revolution

• 1600s-1700s: British colonists formed a large/thriving settlement along the eastern shore of North America

• North American colonies were thriving when George III became king of Great Britain in 1760

• The colonies thrived on trade w/ nations of Europe

• New sense of identity was growing in the colonists’ minds:

• Each of the 13 colonies had its own govt/people were used to independence

• Colonists saw themselves less as British/more as Virginians/Pennsylvanians

• They were still British subjects/expected to obey British law

• 1651: British Parliament passed the Navigation Act/subsequent trade laws → prevented colonists from selling their most valuable products to any country except Britain

• Colonists also had to pay high taxes on imported French/Dutch goods

• Britain’s policies benefited both the colonies/motherland

• Britain bought American raw materials for low prices/sold manufactured goods to the colonists

• Colonial merchants also thrived despite British trade restrictions

• 1754-1763: French and Indian War

• War b/t the English/French

• Britain emerged victorious/seized nearly all French land in North America

• Britain’s victory → growing tensions b/t Britain/their colonists

• Great Britain ran a huge debt

• American colonists benefited from Britain’s victory, so Britain expected the colonists to help pay the costs of the war

• 1765: Parliament passes the Stamp Act: Colonists had to pay a tax to have an official stamp put on wills, deeds, newspapers, and other printed material

• Colonists outraged: they had never paid taxes directly to the British govt before

• Colonial lawyers argued that the stamp tax violated colonists’ natural rights/accused the British govt of “taxation w/o representation”

• British citizens consented to taxes through their representatives in Parliament, colonists didn’t have any representation, thus they couldn’t be taxed

• Some colonial leaders favored independence from Britain

• 1773: a group of colonists dumped a large load of British tea into the Boston Harbor to protest the import tax on tea (Boston Tea Party)

• September 1774: representatives from every colony except Georgia gathered in Philadelphia to form the First Continental Congress

• The group protested the treatment of Boston

• When the king paid little attention to colonist complains, they moved on to form the Second Continental Congress

• April 19, 1775: British soldiers/American militiamen exchanged gunfire in Lexington, Massachusetts

• Fighting spread to nearby Concord

• Second Continental Congress voted to raise an army/organize for battle under the command of George Washington → American Revolution begins

• Colonial leaders used Enlightenment ideas to justify independence

• Colonists asked for the same political rights as those in Britain, but the king refused

• Colonists were justified in rebelling against a tyrant who had broken the social contract

• July 1776: the Second Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Independence, written by political leader Thomas Jefferson, firmly based on the ideas of John Locke/Enlightenment ideas

• Reflected these ideas in the argument for natural rights

• Locke asserted people had the right to rebel against an unjust ruled, DOI included a long list of George III’s abuses

• Document ended by declaring colonies’ separation from Britain

• Shortly after the publication of the DOI, the two sides went to war

• Colonists gave the impression that they were to be defeated, as Washington’s army was poorly trained vs. Britain’s well-trained army

• Ultimately, Americans won the war

• Reasons for colonist success:

• Americans’ motivation for fighting was much stronger than that of the British

• Overconfident British generals made several mistakes

• Time was on the side of the Americans

• Fighting overseas from London was terribly expensive/after a few years, tax-weary British citizens called for peace

• Americans had assistance from France

• Louis XVI had little sympathy for American Revolution ideals, but wanted to weaken his rival Britain

• 1781: combined forces of 9,500 Americans/7,800 French trapped a British army commanded by Lord Cornwallis near Yorktown, Virginia → Cornwallis called for surrender/Americans won their independence

• After declaring independence, the 13 states recognized a need for a national government

• When victory was certain, all 13 states ratified the constitution (1781)

• The Articles of Confederation established the US as a republic, a government in which citizens rule thru elected representatives

• 13 states created a loose confederation in which they held most of the power to protect authority

• AOC deliberately created a weak national government

• No executive/judicial branches

• AOC established only one body of govt (Congress)

• Each state regardless of size had 1 vote in Congress

• Congress could declare war, enter treaties, and coin money, but had no power to collect taxes/regulate trade

• Passing laws was difficult b/c laws needed approval of 9/13 states

• Limits on national govt produced many problems:

• It could only request contributions from the states even though the govt needed money to operate

• Angry war veterans complained that Congress still owed them back for their services

• Several states issued their own money

• Some states put tariffs on goods from neighboring states

• Colonial leaders eventually recognized need for a strong national govt:

• Feb. 1787: Congress approved a Constitutional Convention to revise AOC

• Used political ideas of the Enlightenment to create a new system of government

• The 55 delegates distrusted a powerful central govt controlled by one person/group

• They established 3 separate branches (legislative, executive, judicial), which provided a built-in-system of checks and balances, w/ each branch checking the actions of the other two

• The Constitution created a strong central govt, but did not eliminate local govts

• The Constitution set up a federal system, in which power was divided b/t national/state govts

• September 17, 1787: Delegates signed the new Constitution

• In order to become law, the Constitution needed approval by conventions in at least 9/13 states

• Conventions were marked by sharp debate

• Federalists: Supporters of the Constitution

• Argued in The Federalist Papers that the new govt would provide a better balance b/t state/national powers

• Antifederalists: Opposed the Constitution:

• Feared that the Constitution  gave the central govt too much power/wanted a bill of rights to protect the rights of the individual citizens

• Federalists promised to give antifederalists a bill of rights to gain support → cleared way for approval

• Congress added 10 amendments to the Constitution known as the Bill of Rights

• Bill of Rights protect basic rights such as freedom of press, speech, assembly, and religion

• The Constitution/Bill of Rights marked a turning point in people’s ideas about govt/put Enlightenment ideas into practice