Social And Political In The Age Of Enlightenment

-Did other cultures effect society back in Europe and the way they thought about their government?

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The Enlightenment was a time of change in Europe. There were many new ideas, and various influential thinkers that inspired new invention and also inspired revolutions. All of these thinkers had different views on people and government and different views of people and how they act. Many of these authoritative individuals thoughts still influence us even today. Many of their ideas are used in government and also as guidelines for people to live their lives by.

The Enlightenment was the root of many of the ideas of the American Revolution. It was a movement that focused mostly on freedom of speech, equality, freedom of press, and religious tolerance. The American Revolution was the time period where America tried to gain its independence from England. They got influenced very much from many philosophers. That will be discussed throughout the essay. The Enlightenment ideas were the main influences for American Colonies to become their own nation.

The Enlightenment period was an extremely impactful revolution which caused changes in societies around the world. It began in 1651, people across the country took a stand against their unfair rights. In order to have a peaceful society, everyone must be treated with equality which can only occur if there is a fair government system in place. If people have to fight and kill to have their natural rights granted, something has to be done about it. The enlightenment period encouraged the people to share their ideas when before they felt they had no say. When the people come together to fight for something they believe in many good and bad outcomes can take place. This time period led to many changes that have drastic effects on history. As people joined multiple documents were created showing the impact of this time period. A couple of these influential documents was the English Bill of Rights, U.S constitution, and the Haitian Constitution.

The Age of Enlightenment, a movement during the 17th and 18th century started from the Europeans, later moving into American colonies. The point of this movement was for the society to reform on a new base such as emphasizing reason and individualism over tradition. Enlightenment thinkers, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Beccaria, Locke, and Voltaire helped launched this project amongst Europeans. John Locke, for example, criticized absolute monarchy and favored self-government. Voltaire also believed that people should be able to speak their minds without the fear they may be punished. Through these philosophy influence, this eventually leads to European rulers ruling with a sense of equality, democratic governance, and abolition.

The Enlightenment was a period in the eighteenth century where change in philosophy and cultural life took place in Europe. The movement started in France, and spread to Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Germany at more or less around the same time, the ideas starting with the most renowned thinkers and philosophers of the time and eventually being shared with the common people. The Enlightenment was a way of thinking that focused on the betterment of humanity by using logic and reason rather than irrationality and superstition. It was a way of thinking that showed skepticism in the face of religion, challenged the inequality between the kings and their people, and tried to establish a sound system of ethics. The ideas behind the

The Enlightenment era was a new intellectual movement that stressed reason and thought and the power of individuals to solve problems. Even though different philosophers approached their goal differently, they achieved it none the less. They all approached their goal differently due to their different upbringings, their different backgrounds, and most importantly their different environments. A few among the many enlightened thinkers were Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Baron Do Montesquieu, and Jean Jacques Rousseau. While some of their idea’s are not used in modern society, they were all instrumental to the modern society we live in today.

Between the 17th and 18th century, Enlightenment ideas that originated from France spread to other parts of Europe. Prior to the Enlightenment, absolute monarchs ruled most of Europe. Over time, citizens began to question the monarch’s power with ideas from philosophes such as Voltaire and John Locke. The philosophers concluded that society’s problems could be solved using a method of logic and reason. Also known as the Age of Reason, the Enlightenment inspired societal change and evolution. Through the use of logic and reason, enlightened despots of the 18th century were influenced by the social, political, and economic aspects of the Enlightenment.

The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement during the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, in which humanity valued reason over tradition. The Enlightenment had reformed society by implementing reason and scientific thought. During the eighteenth century, European rulers had taken the beliefs of philosophes and had used their knowledge to influence their decisions. Overall, the Enlightenment philosophy influenced Rulers and their power significantly.

As a result of the scientific revolution, people continued to question the truths of the government, as natural law grew. Joan Fichte, a German philosopher, repels the types of rulers as they “have no rights at all over our freedom of thought, you princes; no jurisdiction over that which is true or false” (Doc 4). Before the Scientific Revolution, the people believed what the government had told them, without any question. The natural law is now granting these rights to the people which is slowly nullifying the government's control over the people. As a result of the people questioning government, the people made changes to their government leaders way of ruling. Rulers used to be omnipotent in their rule, but the natural law constricts the rulers. English philosopher, John Locke, provides his views on rulers. If the rulers work in an unjust manner than the people should use ¨forces . . . nothing but . . . unjust and unlawful force; whoever makes any opposition in any other case draws on himself a just condemnation both from God and man” (Doc 2). If a ruler is abusing his power, the people can stand up to him in a way that is not morally correct. Knowing that the people can oppose the government leaders, the leaders have to be more judicious in their decisions and consistently lead in a moral manner. Not only do the people have strong disapproval but God is

Before the Enlightenment, every law and every decision was made and accepted, only by the King. There was a traditional social structure consisting of the monarchy on the top, followed by the nobles and clergy, and then all of the lower class on the bottom, which included peasants, merchants, and craftsman. When the people of the Western a Society began to receive ideas from Enlightenment scholars and thinkers, the began to realize how wrong the ways of the King were. They began to revolt against and disagree with these ways of the King. These people, motivated by the ideas of the Enlightenment, challenged the traditional social and political structures of the Western society to eventually lead to human rights for everyone.

Americans in the Enlightenment period strongly connected themselves with the classical age in terms of how they approached their art. The Enlightenment period lasted for about 150 years, from approximately 1700 -1850. Throughout this time period many artists took inspiration from the classical age which occurred in ancient Greece and Rome hundreds of years before. We can see examples of this in buildings like The White house and Monticello in America, and Kedleston Hall in England. These three buildings, though located in very different parts of the world, all have a number of aestheticly similar attributes.

Enlightened despots believed that political change could best come from above; from the ruler. However, they were encouraged by the philosophers to make good laws to promote human happiness. How did these monarchs differ from earlier unenlightened monarchs of the past? The difference lay in tempo. These new despots acted abruptly and desired quicker results. They were impatient with all that stood in the way of their reforms. In addition, they justified their authority on the grounds of usefulness, not divine right. These new monarchs were rational and reformist and they regarded political change as possible and desirable. Frederick the Great, Catherine the Great, and Joseph II are good examples of Enlightened

The Age of Enlightenment was an intellectual and scientific movement which is characterized by its rational and scientific approach to religious, social, political, and economic issues. Enlightenment ideals challenged the way people were taught to think and let them express their criticism of the church, the monarchy or whatever system they saw as unjust. The impact of the enlightenment movement was first seen in 18th century Europe and soon spread to different parts of the world. People who believed in these ideals were called enlightenment thinkers. Enlightenment thinkers were a voice for the masses who felt they were being manipulated by people holding all the power. It also helped the masses realize that they did not need the church or monarchy, and enlightenment thinkers were able to assemble a following to stop people of power taking advantage of those who were not quite as powerful. Enlightenment thinkers gave an outlet to the common citizen who were seeing injustices in their government system.