Chapter 5

Section 1

Thomas Hobbes

• Argued that people were naturally cruel, greedy, and selfish.– If they were not strictly controlled they would

fight, rob, and oppress one another.• People entered into a social contract, giving

up the state of nature for an organized society.• Believed only a powerful government, an

absolute monarch, could ensure an orderly society.

John Locke• More optimistic view of human nature.• People were reasonable and moral, having certain

natural rights which include right to life, liberty, and property.

• Argued that people formed governments to protect their natural rights and was accepted by all citizens.

• A government has an obligation to the people it governs, if a govt fails the people’s natural rights, the people have the right to overthrow that government.

Baron de Montesquieu• Studied the governments of Europe.• Believed that British had protected themselves

against tyranny by dividing the various functions and powers of government among three separate branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial.– Misunderstood the British system, which did not

separate powers in this way, but still felt it was the best way to protect liberty.

• Each branch of government should be able to serve as a check on the other two – checks and balances.

Voltaire

• Also known as Francois-Marie Arouet• Used biting wit as a weapon to expose the

abuses of his day, targeting corrupt officials and idle aristocrats.

• He detested the slave trade and deplored religious prejudice.

• Offended both the French government and the Catholic Church.

Denis Diderot• Labored for 25 years to produce a 28-volume

Encyclopedia. – Helped spread Enlightenment ideas throughout Europe.

• His purpose was to change the general way of thinking.

• He denounced slavery, praised freedom of expression, and urged expression for all.

• Attacked divine right theory and traditional religions.

Jean Jacques Rousseau

• Most controversial philosophe.• Believed that people in their natural states

were basically good. This natural innocence was corrupted by the evils of society.

• Felt society placed too many limitations on people’s behavior.

• Put his faith in the “general will” or the best conscience of the people.

Mary Wollstonecroft

• Argued women were being excluded from the social contract itself.

• She called for equal education for girls and boys. Only education could give women the tools they need to participate equally with men in public life.

Adam Smith• Argued that the free market should be allowed

to regulate business activity.• Tried to show how manufacturing, trade, wages,

profits, and economic growth were all linked to the market forces of supply and demand.

• Strong supporter of laissez faire.• Believed the marketplace was better off without

any government regulation, also believed the govt had a duty to protect society, administer justice, and provide public works.

Section 2

Madame Geoffrin

• Ran one of the most respected salons.• Brought together the brightest and most

talented people in her day.• Young musical genius Wolfgang Amadeus

Mozart played for her guests, and Diderot was a regular at her weekly dinners for philosophers and poets.

Rococo Style

• Believed to encourage the imagination.

• Criticized by the philosophes for its superficiality, it had a vast audience in the upper class and growing middle class.

Composers

• New elegant style of music known as “classical” came about.– Johann Sebastian Bach– George Handel– Wolfgang Amadeuz Mozart

Frederick the Great (II)

• Enlightened despots – absolute rulers who used their power to bring about political and social change.

• Exerted extremely tight control over his subjects as king of Prussia.– Praised Voltaire’s work– Tolerated religious differences

Catherine the Great

• Believed in the Enlightenment ideas of equality and liberty.

• Exchanged letters and praised Voltaire and Diderot.

• Like Frederick, Catherine abolished torture and established religious tolerance in Russia.

• Expands Russia into Ukraine.

Joseph II

• Most radical of the enlightened despots.• Traveled in disguise among his subjects to learn

of their problems.• Sold property of many monasteries and convents

and used the money to build hospitals.• Ended censorship• Abolished serfdom

Majority of Europeans

• Most Europeans were untouched by the Enlightenment as peasants living in small rural villages. – Their culture changed much slower.

• The Enlightenment changed life for the courtly and middle class which was less than majority.

Section 3

Rise to Global Power

• Geography – Controlled trade

during the Renaissance.

– Sent ships across the world and planted outposts in the West Indies, North America, and India.

Rise to Global Power

• Success in War:– Each victory brought valuable rewards.– Treaty of Utrecht - Gaining Nova Scotia and

Newfoundland in North America.– Monopolized slave trade in Spanish America.– Treaty of Paris, ended the French and Indian War

and the Seven Years War – Gaining all of French Canada

Rise to Global Power

• Unlike its European rivals, Britain had no large standing army.

• Developed a more powerful navy– Protected its growing empire and trade

Rise to Global Power

• Favorable climate to business and commerce• Few restrictions on trade• The Act of Union joined England and Scotland

in the United Kingdom of Great Britain.– Free trade between the two created larger market

for farmers and manufacturers

Growth of Constitutional Government

• Three new political institutions: – Political parties– The cabinet– The office of prime minister

• Part of the evolution of Britain’s constitutional government, a government whose power is defined and limited by law.

Growth of Constitutional Government

• The British constitution is not a single document, but all acts of Parliament over the centuries.– Including the Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights

Political Parties

Tories• Aristocrats • Wanted to preserve

older traditions• Supported broad royal

powers and a dominant Anglican Church

Whigs• Backed policies of the

Glorious Revolution• Reflected urban

business interests• Supported religious

toleration• Favor Parliament over

the crown

Political Parties

• Political parties represented exclusive social circles among rich, powerful men in Parliament.

• The modern political party, representing groups of people with a distinct platform, did not appear until the1880’s.

The Cabinet System

• Evolved in the 1700s after the British throne was inherited by a German Protestant prince.

• George I spoke no English and relied on the leaders in Parliament to help him rule.

• The cabinet was a handful of parliamentary advisers that met in a small room, or “cabinet” to discuss.

• The Prime Minister is head of the cabinet.

Politics and Society

• British government was far from democratic.• It was an oligarchy, a government in which the

ruling power belongs to a few people.

Politics and Society

• Landowning aristocrats were seen as the “natural” ruling class.– Highest nobles held seats in the House of Lords.– Other wealthy landowners and rich business

leaders controlled elections to the House of Commons.

• The right to vote was limited to a few male property owners, who openly brought their votes.

Politics and Society

• Wealthy landowners bought up farms and common lands, evicting tenant farmers and small landowners.– These families drifted into towns where they faced

harsh existence.• Small but growing middle class

George III• 1760 – George III began a

60-year reign.– Set out to regain royal

power.– Wanted to end Whig

domination, choose his own ministers, dissolve the cabinet system, and make Parliament follow his will.

– Few seats of Parliament were given to “the king’s friends.”

George III

• After the Seven Years’ War, George and his advisors decided that English colonists in North America must pay the costs of their own defense.– Colonists protested this idea.

• This and other conflicts triggered the American Revolution, which ended in a loss for Britain.

Cabinet Rule Restored

• Loss of its American colonies discredited the king.

• Suffering from spells of mental illness and a crisis of leadership, cabinet rule was restored in 1788.

• The prime minister was seen as Britain's real political leader.

Section 4

The 13 English Colonies

• By 1750, 13 prosperous colonies along the eastern coast of North America.

• The colonies were home to diverse religious and ethnic groups.– They shared common values:• Respect for individual enterprise,• Growing self-confidence• Increasing sense of their own destiny separate from

Britain.

Growing Distant

• Britain began to enforce long-neglected laws regulating colonial trade.

• Parliament passed new laws to increase the taxes paid by the colonies.

• Colonist bitterly resented what they saw as an attack on their rights.

“No taxation without representation”

• The colonists believed since they had to representation in Parliament then they could not be taxed by Parliament.

• Some taxes were repealed but Britain continued to assert its right to impose taxes on the colonies.

Boston Massacre

• In March 1770, British soldiers in Boston opened fire on a crowd that was pelting them with stones and snowballs.

• Five protesters were killed.

Boston Tea Party

• December 1773 some colonists hurled a cargo of British tea into the harbor to protest a tax on tea.

• Parliament pass harsh laws to punish Massachusetts for the destruction of the tea– Other colonies rallied to oppose British response.

First Continental Congress

• Representatives from each colony gathered in Philadelphia in 1774– Met to decide what actions to take.– Set up a Continental Army, led by George

Washington.• War exploded in 1775.

Second Continental Congress

• Met in 1776• Declared independence from Britain.– Thomas Jefferson of Virginia was the principal

author of the Declaration of Independence.– Reflects the ideas of John Locke– Emphasized the principle of popular sovereignty –

all government power comes from the people.• Declaration adopted on July 4, 1776.

Birth of the American Republic

• Common Sense by Thomas Paine– Called on colonists to declare their independence

from Britain.– Echoed the themes of the Enlightenment.– Brought large debate, many came to agree with

his ideas.

The American Revolution

• One third of colonists were loyalists, supporting Britain.

• Britain looks in favor of winning.– Professional soldiers– Huge fleet– Plentiful money– Some Native Americans on their side

Turning Point in 1777

• Americans triumphed over the British at the Battle of Saratoga.– Persuaded France to join the Americans against its

old rival, Britain.– Brought desperately needed supplies, trained

soldiers, and French warships.– Netherlands and Spain added their support

The American Revolution

• In 1781, the help of the French fleet blockading the Chesapeake Bay, Washington forced the surrender of a British army at Yorktown.– British war effort crumbled.

Treaty of Paris

• Two years later, American, British, and French diplomats signed the Treaty of Paris ending the war. – Britain recognized the independence of the United

States of America.– Accepted the new nations’ western frontier as the

Mississippi River.

New Constitution• The national government set up by a

documents called the Articles of Confederation.– Too weak to rule the new United States effectively

• During the summer of 1787, the nation’s leaders met in Philadelphia to create the Constitution of the United States.– Strong yet flexible government– Has adapted to changing conditions for more than

200 years.

Impact of Enlightenment Ideas

• The framers of the Constitution absorbed the ideas of Locke, Montesquieu, and Rousseau.

• Saw government in terms of a social contract into which “We the People of the United States” entered.

• Elected legislature and presidents.– First president of the United States – George

Washington, who also led the army during the war

Impact of Enlightenment Ideas

• The Constitution created a federal republic, power divided between the federal, or national, government and the states.

• Separation of powers among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches.– Checks and balances

• Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the Constitution, recognized that people had basic rights that the government must protect.

Limited Freedom

• In 1789, the Constitution became the supreme law of the land.– Most Americans didn’t have the right to vote.• Only white men who were able to meet certain

property requirements.