GENERAL CURRICULUM TEST OBJECTIVE : 0008 Understand major developments and figures in world history.
The Age of Enlightenment
In Europe, the Age of Enlightenment in the early 1700's joined the ideas of the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution. Philosophers brought scientific reasoning to all parts of life. A belief in natural laws and reason that, if followed, would lead to happiness. They believed, like the Ancient Greeks, that free people could build a better society. The ideas of the Enlightenment were at the root of both the French Revolution and American Revolution (see section on this topic).
The French Revolution
The beginning of the French Revolution is what is now called Bastille Day (July 14, 1789) when citizens took over the royal prison and storehouse of ammunition. The causes of the revolution were the unfair control of the king, the economic conditions, including a bankrupt government and inequity in taxes (the rich paid less and the poor paid more), and a lack of basic resources such as food. Fear and violence in a Reign of Terror marked the revolution which resulted in the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte who brought order and stability to France. He changed the tax system, instituted new legal code called the Napleonic Code.
In reaction to this rise of controling monarches and military leaders, many thinkers including Americans Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson advocated a new approach. They based much of their beliefs on the writings of an earlier philosopher. John Locke, an English philosopher, influenced much of the the thinking of this time. He wrote that people have the right to life, liberty, and property, and believed that people made a contract with their government to protect their natural rights.
The Romantic Movement
The Romantic Movement began to appear at the end of the Enlightenment era and bridged into the 1800's, expressing the spirit of revolt encouraged by the French Revolution. Romanticism, the reaction against the Age of Reason, involved the subordination of rationality to emotion and intuition, found value and interest in the individual, and emphasized nature, harmony, and spirituality. Transendentalism, a belief system, emerged during this time. The transcendentalists' core beliefs were the inherent goodness of both people and nature, and a belief that people are at their best when they are self-reliant and independent. Notable philosophers of transcendentalism included Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.
Resources:
http://europeanhistory.about.com/video/Overview--The-Enlightenment.htm
https://youtu.be/OiRWBI0JTYQ (Romanticism Video)
https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/history/1600s-1800s (Khan Academy History 1700-1900 Enlightenment and Revolution)
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