Chapter 5.1: The Enlightenment - AP World History Modern

Essential Question

• How did the Enlightenment shape intellectual and ideological thinking affecting reform and revolution post-1750?

Key Features of the Enlightenment

• Emphasis on reason over tradition and individualism over community values.
• Ideals such as individualism, freedom, and self-determination.
• Impact on the roles of monarchs and church leaders.
• Seeds for revolutions in the US, France, and globally.

Origins and Influence

• Scientific Revolution & Renaissance: Enlightenment grew from these periods.
• Religious Influence: While not denying God, Enlightenment shifted focus to human accomplishments.
• Social and Political Ideals: Application of natural laws to social and political spheres.

Schools of Thought

• Emergence of Socialism and Liberalism.
• Conservatism opposed these new ideas, popular among ruling classes.
• Nationalism emerged, promoting independent nation-states, threatening multi-ethnic empires.

Key Philosophers and Ideas

Francis Bacon

• Empiricism: Belief that knowledge comes from sense experience and experiments.

Thomas Hobbes and John Locke

• Social Contract: Agreement for citizens to submit to authority for law and order (Hobbes) or to revolt against unjust governments (Locke).
• Natural Rights (Locke): Life, liberty, and property; concept of Tabula Rasa.

The Philosophes

• Montesquieu: Separation of powers, influencing US government structure.
• Voltaire: Advocated civil rights, religious liberty, judicial reform.
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau: General will, social contract, inspired revolutionaries.

Adam Smith

• The Wealth of Nations: Critique of mercantilism, advocacy for laissez-faire and capitalism.

Deism

• Belief in a non-intervening divinity; compared divinity to a watchmaker.
• Notable Deist: Thomas Paine.

Social and Economic Ideas

Utopian Socialism

• Advocated for communal ownership and ideal communities.
• Henri de Saint-Simon, Charles Fourier, Robert Owen: Proponents of this vision.

Classical Liberalism

• Emphasized natural rights, constitutional government, and reduced military/church spending.
• Advocated parliamentary reform.

Social Movements

Feminism

• Emergence based on Enlightenment ideals.
• Olympe de Gouges and Mary Wollstonecraft advocated for women's rights.
• Seneca Falls Convention: Landmark event for women's suffrage.

Abolitionism

• Movement to end Atlantic slave trade and slavery.
• Key Milestones: Denmark (1803), Britain (1807), USA (1808).
• Last to abolish slavery: Brazil, 1888.

End of Serfdom

• Transition from agrarian to industrial economies.
• Major reforms in Russia, France, and others.

Zionism

• Emergence of desire for an independent Jewish homeland.
• Theodor Herzl: Leading figure.
• Increased support after the Dreyfus Affair.

Key Terms by Theme

• Government Reforms: John Locke, Social Contract, Philosophes.
• Culture Isms: Enlightenment, Deism, Liberalism, Conservatism, Nationalism, Feminism, Abolitionism, Zionism.
• Economic Reforms: Adam Smith, Laissez-faire, Capitalism, Utopian Socialists, Fabian Society.

Conclusion

• Emphasis on adopting Enlightenment ideals in political and social reforms.
• Importance of key thinkers and movements in shaping modern ideologies.
• Encouragement to review and memorize key terms and their contrasts.