1. Age of Enlightenment
Chapter 17

2. Philosophy in the Age of Reason
Section 1

3. Philosophy in Age of Reason
Key Terms Social Contract John Locke Natural Rights Montesquieu Censorship Adam Smith Laissez-Faire Focus Question: What effects did Enlightenment philosophers have on government & society?

4. Natural Law
1500s-1600s: Scientific Revolution brought reason & scientific method and changed way of looking at the world
Natural Law: rules discovered by reason
Used to study human behavior & solve society’s problems
Scientific Revolution= Sparked “Enlightenment”
A revolution in thinking

5. Society & Government
Thomas Hobbes: argued that people were “brutish” by nature & should be controlled by absolute monarchy
Social Contract: people give up freedom for organized society
John Locke: argued people were basically good & had natural rights (life, liberty, & property)
Rejected absolute monarchy, felt govt should be limited

6. Philosophes
Philosophes: French thinkers who believed in using reason to reform govt, society, & law
Montesquieu: separation of powers and checks & balances in govt to protect individual rights
Voltaire: defended freedom of speech

7. Enlightenment freedoms did not apply to women
No Girls Allowed!
Jean-Jacques Rousseau: believed good of all was above individual rights
Enlightenment freedoms did not apply to women
Adam Smith: rejected govt regulation of economy
Laissez-Faire: “Let them do as they will”

8. Tradition vs. Enlightenment
Enlightenment ideas challenged traditional views of social classes, divine right to rule, & other customs
Censorship: gov’t banned & burned books that promoted these new ideas & jailed writers
Philosophes disguised their ideas in works of fiction
Salons: people gathered and discussed new ideas in art, science, literature, & philosophy

9. Birth of American Republic
Section 3

10. Warm-Up “Think of the effects of the Enlightenment on society
Which is the most important and why?”
(explain, not list)

11. Birth of American Republic
Key Terms Stamp Act Popular Sovereignty Thomas Jefferson Federal Republic Focus Question: How did Enlightenment ideas lead to independence & founding of United States?

12. British Rule
Mid-1700s: Britain=major global power for its location, trade, & colonial territories
George III: King of British empire @ time
Empire included 13 American colonies
Stamp act: increased taxes & tensions between colonists & British govt
“no taxation w/o representation!”
Colonies wanted independence from British govt & began to protest

13. Beginnings of US Govt
Reps from each colony meet to discuss plan of action (included G. Washington)
Amer. Rev War begins in Mass. In 1775
Declaration of Independence issued July 4, 1776
Written mostly by Thomas Jefferson
Reflected John Locke’s ideas (life, liberty, property)
Popular sovereignty: govt should reflect the will of the people

14. War & American Govt Colonist struggled to defeat British forces
Brits surrendered at Yorktown, Virginia, 1781
War ends with Treaty of Paris
American leaders (Ben Franklin & James Madison) meet to establish new govt & Constitution
Federal Republic: based on separation of powers
Bill of Rights: Protects basic human natural rights
Enlightenment ideas important to US Constitution