The Enlightenment was a period of philosophical, political, and scientific learning that began in the wake of the Renaissance and the Reformation. Initially, the discussions provoked by the Enlightenment were scientific, and scientists such as Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton challenged scientific dogma to produce powerful new explanations of the natural world. But over time, these same kinds of studies turned to politics and questions about the best way to organize human society. These thinkers challenged political orthodoxy and set in motion an age of revolutions.
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For centuries, Greek and Roman philosophers' ideas about the world were presumed to be the pinnacle of learning. But starting with Galileo, these ideas were challenged, and scientists began to revise their understanding of how the natural world worked.
The origins of the Enlightenment were wide-ranging. We can trace many of its fundamental ideas to the teachings of the ancient Greek and Roman scholars, which the Enlightenment philosophers revisited and tried to improve upon.
Read this text on how Europe's Scientific Revolution promoted a period of rational, intellectual reflection, which we call the Enlightenment. Major theories focused on the importance of rational thought (rather than religious edicts), the natural rights of human beings, and social contract theory, which values political rights in accordance with the consent of the governed.
Europe's Scientific Revolution had a tremendous socio-political impact. It loosened the hold of the Catholic Church and prompted individuals to reexamine all aspects of their lives – from the natural, scientific, and cultural to the political. The Enlightenment which followed represented a departure from the status quo. Political philosophers applied the ideas of reason and logic to examine the purpose and limits of government, civil rights, and the role of the individual in civic life. As you watch this video, pay attention to the individuals it features.
As you read this article, think about how the Scientific Revolution impacted the Enlightenment and major revolutions of the modern period.
Read this text on the role of the public sphere as a place for debate and dissent.
Watch this lecture on Thomas Hobbes, the eminent 17th-century political thinker and author of The Leviathan.
Read this text on John Locke, the English writer and philosopher who proved to be one of Europe's most influential Enlightenment thinkers. Many of his thoughts and ideas about society, justice, and politics are found in the American Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
Read this text on Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the French philosopher who broke dramatically with Hobbes and offered his own influential explanation of why people formed governments – and when they should form new ones.
At the end of the 18th century, this ideological ferment resulted in three different revolutions: North America, France, and Haiti. Each went in different social and political directions and was inspired by contrasting factors. Each had dramatic consequences. The American Revolution inspired many Europeans to believe a similar revolution was possible. Meanwhile, the Haitian Revolution led enslavers to fear the people they brutally controlled would overthrow them, too. The result was tremendous hope and a backlash.
Read on the causes, ideological framing, and consequences of the American, French, and Haitian Revolutions.
Watch this video, which discusses the ideals of the Enlightenment, the American Revolution, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
Read this article on the key events and milestones of the American Revolution.
In Section II of Common Sense, Thomas Paine (1737–1809), an American revolutionary, discussed British rule in North America and argued that England had severely mistreated the American colonies. He asserted that British rule was unnatural and unjust. The only logical action for American colonists was to rebel against Great Britain and become a free and independent people.
Watch this video on the French Revolution, Robespierre's Reign of Terror, and the Rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. The revolutionary leaders abolished the monarchy and altered most of France's social and political institutions to make them more rational and modern. They proclaimed a republic, instituted parliamentary elections, introduced educational reforms, created a new revolutionary calendar, and reorganized France's electoral districts to make representation more democratic.
Read this article, which offers an overview of the key events of the French Revolution.
The Declaration of the Rights of Man was meant to affirm the principles of the French Revolution and the government they hoped to build. Compare its core tenets to the writings of Thomas Paine. Are there any differences?
Watch this video on the Haitian Revolution. While France recognized Haiti, the new country faced serious challenges in securing trading partners and diplomatic relations with other nations. For example, the United States, led by Thomas Jefferson, refused to ally itself with a country whose enslaved people had overthrown their oppressors. Political thinkers such as Edmund Burke declared the Haitian Revolution a dangerous precedent that threatened the institution of slavery.
Read this primary source document, which describes the revolution from a Haitian perspective. It then recounts their final victory over France.
In 1814, France restored its monarchy after the Napoleonic Wars (1800–1815) and the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815). King Louis XVIII (1875–1824) ruled France until 1824 but created a constitutional monarchy and preserved many revolutionary liberties. However, in 1848, rebellion and ideological conflicts resurfaced in France and several other European countries. The rise of nationalism prompted citizens to give their loyalty to the nation-state rather than to a ruler or institution, such as the monarchy or church.
The rise of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769–1821) and the Congress of Vienna redrew national boundaries in Europe and led to nationalistic fervor throughout the continent. The French Revolution inspired revolutionaries in Haiti. Napoleon's incursions into Spain weakened the Spanish Empire and gave Latin Americans an opening to fight for their independence.
The French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte to power set
off a catastrophic series of wars in Europe that raged until 1815. Read
this text, which highlights how a generation of war changed the European
map and unleashed political and social forces that impacted the
continent long after Napoleon's defeat and permanent exile.
Read this text on the causes, primary ideologies, and values of nationalism, liberalism, and conservatism. How did the Congress of Vienna impact Europe's balance of power?
Watch this video. Pay attention to how the Congress of Vienna contributed to the growth of nationalism and the outbreak of revolution. How did the famine of 1845 further destabilize Europe and contribute to the reassertion of republicanism?
Watch this video on the causes of revolution in Europe in 1848. How did these conflicts compare with the French Revolution? Why was there no revolution in Britain?
While the Napoleonic Wars were raging in Europe, Spain and Portugal were losing control over their domains in South America. Much of the turmoil was due to the inefficiencies of the Spanish and Portuguese governments and the unique social dynamics they had created in their colonies. By the 1820s, nearly all of Central and South America had become independent.
Read this text on the social hierarchy of Spanish America and the Bourbon Reforms the Spanish Crown imposed on its American colonies during the 1700s. How did European politics affect Haiti and the Spanish-American colonies?
Read this text on the Mexican War of Independence (1810–1821) and Agustín de Iturbide's Plan de Iguala (1821), a revolutionary proclamation based on the "three guarantees" of independence, religion, and equality.
Watch this video on the revolutions that occurred in Latin America after Napoleon seized the Spanish throne in 1808, Mexico's Plan de Iguala (1821), and Simón Bolívar's (1763–1830) attempt to create a commonwealth of South America.
Read this text to learn more about the revolutions that roiled Spanish South America and how they differed from those in Mexico.
Read this text on Simón Bolivar, one of the most influential and beloved South American leaders in the fight for independence for Spain's colonies.
Read this text on the relocation of the Portuguese monarchy to Brazil, the country's path to independence (1822), and what differentiates the Empire of Brazil from its neighboring republics.
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