Topic 3 Study Guide: The Enlightenment and the American Revolution

Took place during the 1500s and 1600s, producing major advances in physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, and medicine.
Key tools and fields involved telescope, microscope, printing press, and mathematics (algebra, trigonometry, geometry, decimal system).
Geocentric Model: Developed by Ptolemy; asserted that Earth was at the center of the universe.
Heliocentric Model: Proposed by Nicolaus Copernicus in 1543; asserted that the Sun was at the center of the universe.

Johannes Kepler: Used mathematics to demonstrate that planets orbit the Sun in elliptical paths (Kepler's First Law).
Galileo Galilei: First European to use a telescope for astronomical observations; published Starry Messenger in 1610; supported heliocentrism and conflicted with the Catholic Church.
Isaac Newton: Born in 1642; wrote Principia; formulated the Three Laws of Motion and the Universal Law of Gravitation.

William Harvey: Advanced body studies through human dissection.
Robert Boyle: Developed Boyle's Law, establishing that gas volume changes relative to pressure.
Antoine Lavoisier: Invented a system for naming chemical elements; regarded as the father of modern chemistry.
Margaret Cavendish: English aristocrat who authored Observations upon Experimental Philosophy; held that humans cannot completely control nature.
Maria Winkelmann: German astronomer who discovered a comet and faced systemic discrimination.
René Descartes: 17th-century philosopher and father of modern rationalism; known for "I think, therefore I am"; emphasized reason and radical doubt.
Francis Bacon: Developed the scientific method based on inductive reasoning (proceeding from specific observations to general conclusions).

18th-century movement applying reason, natural law, hope, and progress to human society and governance.
John Locke: Concept of tabula rasa ("blank slate"); advocated that human nature is shaped by experience and nurture, implying society can be reformed.
Montesquieu: Promoted separation of powers, checks and balances, and three branches of government (executive, legislative, judicial).
Voltaire: Criticized church power and advocated Deism (belief in a creator God who operates through natural laws).
Denis Diderot: Created the 28-volume encyclopedia to disseminate Enlightenment thought.
Adam Smith: Supported laissez-faire economics and three natural laws of economics: self-interest, competition, and supply and demand.
Cesare Beccaria: Argued for fairer judicial procedures and opposed capital punishment and cruel punishment.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau: Authored the Social Contract, stating government must rule by the general will of the people.
Mary Wollstonecraft: Early champion for women's equality in political, educational, and economic spheres.

Absolute monarchs who integrated selective Enlightenment principles into their rule.
Frederick the Great (Frederick II, Prussia): Hosted Voltaire, abolished torture except in specific cases, expanded religious tolerance, restricted free speech/press, and preserved serfdom.
Catherine the Great (Catherine II, Russia): Consulted Diderot and considered legal reform, but preserved the noble structure and expanded territory via wars against Poland and the Ottoman Empire.
Joseph II (Austria): Son of Maria Theresa; abolished serfdom and the death penalty while establishing equal legal treatment; reforms largely failed due to opposition by nobles, the church, and peasants.

Baroque: Focused on grandeur and scale; Balthasar Neumann constructed the Church of the Fourteen Saints and Würzburg palace.
Rococo: Originating in the 1730s, emphasized charm, grace, and pleasure; features works by Antoine Watteau and Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (Würzburg palace ceiling frescoes).
Classical Music & Literature: Key figures included Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Joseph Haydn, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Henry Fielding wrote realistic novels.

Hanoverian Monarchs: Queen Anne died in 1714 without an heir; German relatives George I and George II took the throne, leading to increased power for Parliament and chief ministers.
Taxation & Resistance: Debt from the Seven Years' War led Britain to pass the Stamp Act (1765), triggering colonial protests and its repeal one year later.
Armed Conflict: First Continental Congress met in 1774; military hostilities began at Lexington & Concord in April 1775.
Independence: Second Continental Congress placed George Washington in command of the Continental Army; Thomas Jefferson authored the Declaration of Independence (adopted July 4, 1776).
Foreign Aid & Peace: France granted official recognition in 1778 and provided military aid; British forces were defeated at the Battle of Yorktown in 1781; Treaty of Paris (1783) formally recognized US independence.
Government: U.S. Constitution instituted a federal system with separation of powers, checks and balances, and a Bill of Rights based on Enlightenment ideas.