Unit 5: Enlightenment (1750-1900)

Introduction

• Focus on revolutions worldwide during 1750-1900.
• Enlightenment provided the ideological framework for these revolutions.

Definition of Enlightenment

• Intellectual movement emphasizing:
  • Rationalism: Reason over emotion or external authority as the source of knowledge.
  • Empiricism: Knowledge through senses and rigorous experimentation.
• Rooted in the earlier Scientific Revolution (16th-17th centuries).

Shift in Authority

• Questioned and re-examined the role of religion in public life.
• Shifted authority from external (God/religion) to internal (individual reason).

New Religious Perspectives

• Deism: Belief in a non-intervening creator God.
• Atheism: Rejection of religious belief.

Key Political Ideas

1. Individualism

• The individual as the basic element of society.
• Emphasis on individual progress and expression against societal norms.

2. Natural Rights

• Inalienable rights of life, liberty, and property (John Locke).
• Rights given by God, cannot be taken by governments.

3. Social Contract

• Societies must construct governments to protect natural rights.
• Right to overthrow tyrannical governments.

Effects of Enlightenment Ideas

1. Revolutions

• Ideological basis for American, French, Haitian, and Latin American Revolutions.
• Contributed to the rise of nationalism.

2. Expansion of Suffrage

• Increased voting rights post-revolutions, influenced by ideas of liberty and equality.

3. Abolition of Slavery

• Criticism of slavery due to disregard for natural rights.
• Example: Britain's abolition of slavery (1807), influenced by economic factors and slave rebellions.

4. End of Serfdom

• Transition to industrial economies made serfdom unnecessary.
• Peasant revolts prompted states to abolish serfdom.

5. Women's Suffrage

• Women demanded equality, including voting rights, influenced by Enlightenment ideas.
• Notable examples:
  • French activist Olympe de Gouges' "Declaration of the Rights of Woman."
  • Seneca Falls Convention (1848) in the U.S. calling for women's voting rights.

Conclusion

• Enlightenment ideas laid the groundwork for significant societal and political changes worldwide during this period.