Chapter 6: Enlightenment and Revolution, 1550-1789

Intellectual

Movement

Ideas about human

society and government

Ideas about democracy

and individual

rights

Inspired by human

curiosity

Progress and

Individualism

“The Age of Reason”

Where it happened…

Enlightenment Principles motivate the Founding Fathers and form the

basis of political thought in the United States.

Begins in Germany, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, & Portugal.

The Renaissance Spirit -14th-17th Century Europe--

Art, humanism, progress, movement of ideas (printing press), questioning the dominance of the Catholic Church Rejection of the medieval view that life was only a

preparation for the afterlife.

Exploration of the Physical World –The Age of Exploration and the Scientific Revolution

Causes of the Enlightenment:

Prior to the 1500’s scholars decided what was true or false by referring to an ancient Greek or

Roman author or to the Bible.Few European scholars questioned the scientific

ideas of the ancient thinkers or the church.General belief was that the earth was an

unmoving object located at the center of the universe=Geocentric theory supported by the

Greek philosopher, Aristotle.

Chapter 6, Section 1The Scientific Revolution

Beginning in the mid-1500’s, a few scholars published works challenging the ideas of the church and ancient

thinkers.European exploration fueled a great deal of scientific research. Navigators

needed better instruments and geographic measurements.

Scientists began to look more closely at the world around them. Their

observations did not match ancient beliefs. They found that they had

reached the limit of the classical world’s knowledge.

A New Way of Thinking

On what continent did the Enlightenment begin?

What made Enlightenment scholars different from ancient scholars?

Would you have been an Enlightenment scholar? Why or Why not?

Check for UnderstandingWork with those around you to answer the following questions.

The first major challenge to accepted scientific thinking was the questioning of

the geocentric theory.-What was the geocentric theory?

Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus became interested in an old Greek idea that the sun stood at the center of the universe. After careful study, he reasoned that that

stars, the earth, and the other planets revolved around the sun (heliocentric theory).

The Heliocentric Theory

Sun at the Center

Galileo disproved theories of Aristotle. In one study, he found that heavy objects and lighter objects fall at the

same speed.

Galileo built his own telescope (without ever seeing one) and discovered that the earth’s moon had a rough and uneven surface, shattering Aristotle’s theory that the moon and starts were made of a pure and perfect

substance.

Galileo’s Discoveries

Galileo dropped stones of different weights off of the Leaning Tower of Pisa (Italy) to test Aristotle’s theory.

Galileo’s findings frightened both Catholic and Protestant leaders because they went against the Church. If people

believed the Church was wrong about this, they could question other church teachings as well.

In 1633, the pope angrily summoned Galileo to Rome to stand trial before the Inquisition (a Roman Catholic tribunal for

discovery and punishment of heresy).

Galileo retracted his support of Copernicus but was still arrested.

“Galileo’s Head Was on the Block”

 Imagine that you are Galileo in the year 1633. You are standing before a court who wishes to condemn you for

defending the ideas of Copernicus.

 Will you defend Copernicus knowing that it will lead to

your arrest?Describe why or why not in 5-7 sentences. Be prepared to

share your response to the class.

Reflection & Debate

In groups of 2-3, read the Connect to Today box (The Vatican Clears Galileo).

Do you agree with the panel’s conclusion?

Connect to Today

The revolution in scientific thinking gave rise to the

scientific method: a logical procedure for gathering and

testing ideasIt begins with a problem or

question arising from an observation

Scientists next form a hypothesis, or unproved

assumption. This is then tested through

experimentation. Then scientists analyze and interpret their data

to reach a new conclusion, which either confirms or disproves the hypothesis.

The Scientific Method

Hmmm….

These two scholars advanced the scientific method.

Turn to page 167. Read silently from Francis Bacon to the end of the section on page 168.

Working with partners, think about what is most important about these 2 men. Be prepared to share

your answers.

Francis Bacon & René Descartes

Newton’s great discovery was that the same force ruled the motions of all matter on earth and in space. He

disproved the idea of Aristotle that one set of physical laws governed earth and another set governed the rest

of the universe.

Law of Gravitation: every object in the universe attracts every other object. The degree of the attraction

depends on the mass of the objects and the distance between them.

Isaac Newton

Newton published this book in 1687. The universe he described

was like a giant clock whose parts all worked together

perfectly in ways that could be expressed mathematically.

Newton believed that God was the creator of this orderly universe, the

clockmaker who had set everything in motion.

Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy

What do you think about Newton’s clockmaker theory?

New tools and instruments help scientists make precise observations (microscope).

The study of human anatomy leads to a greater understanding of the body and disease (smallpox

vaccine).

The Scientific Revolution Spreads

End Lesson 1

The influence of the Scientific Revolution spread beyond the world of science.

Philosophers admired Newton because he had used reason to explain the laws of governing nature. People began to look for laws governing human

behavior as well.

Chapter 6, Section 2:The Enlightenment in

Europe

Philosophers hoped to apply reason and the scientific method to all aspects of society—government, religion, economics, and

education.

In this way, the ideas of the scientific revolution paved the way for a new movement called The Enlightenment, or The Age of Reason, which reached its height in the mid-1700s.

 This age of reason was marked by a revolution in intellectual activity which changed Europeans view on government &

society.

Revolution in Intellectual

Activity

The Enlightenment started from key ideas put forth by 2 English political thinkers of the 1600’s:

Thomas Hobbes John Locke

2 Views on Government Emerge

2 Views on Government Writing Assignment

 In John Locke’s mind, what was the purpose of

government?

In Thomas Hobbes mind, what was the purpose of government?

Check for Understanding:

Which thinker would be more likely to agree with this political cartoon?

Project Instructions

The Enlightenment reached its height in France in the mid-1700s. Paris became a meeting place for people who wanted to

discuss politics and Enlightenment ideas. 

Social critics of the time were known as Philosophes (French world for philosophers).

 Philosophes believed that people could apply reason to all

aspects of life (like Newton with science).

The Philosophes

5 concepts at the core of their philosophy…Reason-truth could be discovered through reason/logical thinking.

Reason=absence of intolerance, bigotry, or prejudice in one’s thinking. 

Nature-nature is good and reasonable. Natural laws of economics and politics existed just as natural laws existed for science.

 Happiness-person who lived by natural laws would find happiness.

Philosophes were impatient with the notion that people should accept misery in this world to find joy in the afterlife. They wanted well-being on earth.

 Progress-The Philosophes were the 1 st in Europe to believe in progress for

society. They felt that society and humankind could be perfected. 

Liberty-In France, there were many restrictions on speech, religion, trade, & personal travel. The Philosophes believed that through reason, society could

be set free.***Remember, freedom is a modern concept!!

Advocating for Reason

Take a minute to quietly reflect on the 5 concepts explored in the previous slide.

Which concept do you value the most and why?

Let’s Vote

Enlightenment writers challenged long-held ideas about society, such as divine right of monarchs, union of Church and state, &

unequal social classes. They found these things unreasonable when examined using reason.

Enlightenment writers & thinkers were NOT revolutionaries. They lived in a world of ideas that transformed our modern world over

time.

Major Beliefs:

Progress--through reason, a better society was possible

Tolerance--freedom of religion

Individuality—celebration and belief in the individual as opposed to the Church or Royalty

Major Understandings

The Enlightenment was primarily a community of thought where people sought knowledge.

Diderot , a leading philosophe created the Encyclopedia, an attempt to bring together all the most current and enlightened

thinking. The first volume was published in 1751, soon to be banned by the

French government and Catholic Church for undermining royal authority, encouraging a spirit of revolt, and fostering moral

corruption and irreligion.

Culture of the Enlightenment

People gathered at salons (gathering’s held in drawing room’s of the wealthy) to discuss their thoughts and watch

performances.

An intellectual community formed as the educated of Europe interacted with one another.

These thinkers then wrote pamphlets and books.

The middle class was exposed to Enlightenment thinking through newspapers and magazines

The Spreading of

Ideas…

Salon Activity

Enlightenment ideals of order and reason were reflected in the arts—music, literature, painting, and architecture.

Baroque (grand, ornate) neoclassical (simple, elegant—borrows ideas from classical Greece and Rome)

Individuality reflected in paintings (see page 180)

Considered the classical period in music—Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn

Birth of the modern novel; Use of satire ( Jonathon Swift Activity)

Art & Literature

The philosophes tried to convince monarchs to rule justly.

Some embraced the new ideas and made reforms that reflected the Enlightenment spirit (like Catherine the

Great, picture above). They became known as enlinghtened despots (despot means absolute ruler).

graphic organizer

Enlightenment & Monarchy