Background Information on Enlightenment

Enlightenment

Chapter 1 of Enlightenment, French Revolution, and Romanticism

Lesson Objectives

• Place the Enlightenment and its emphasis on science and human reason in historical context, and contrast the period with the Middle Ages and Renaissance

• Describe how Isaac Newton explained the workings of the universe

• Explain how Newton's scientific achievements influenced Enlightenment thinkers

Chapter 1 Vocabulary

• Reason: the ability of the mid to think clearly and understand; logic

• "Divine Right of Kings": The belief that kings and queens have a God-given right to rule, and that rebellion against them is a sin

• Gravitation: the attractive force existing between any two objects that have mass; the force that pulls objects together

• Calculus: a type of advanced mathematics focused on the study of change

Chapter 1 Vocabulary

• Epidemic: a situation in which a disease spreads to many people in an area or region

• Gravity: the gravitational force that occurs between Earth and other bodies; the force acting to pull objects towards Earth

• Scholar: a person who specializes in a specific academic subject; an expert

Middle Ages

• 476 CE - 1350

• Christianity = dominant religion in Western Europe

• the Church is the single most important organization in W. Europe

• Feudalism = system of land being offered in exchange for loyalty and military support

• Era of lords, knights, castles, monks, nuns, peasants, and serfs

• Late Middle Ages: feudalism weakens, kings grow stronger/more powerful

Multiple Choice

What was the main unifying force of medieval Western Europe?

• Government

• Church

• Military

Renaissance

• 1400-1650

• Began in Italian city-states and spread to other parts of Europe

• Rebirth of interest in ancient Greece and Rome, Greek and Roman works are rediscovered

• Time of great artistic creativity in literature, painting, sculpture, and architecture

• Leonardo da Vinci, William Shakespeare

Multiple Choice

During the Renaissance, there was a revival of interst in

• perspective

• humanism

• Greek and Roman Civilizations

• individual achievement

Age of Exploration

• 1400s - early 1600s

• Period of European exploration and settlement around the world

• Spanish, Portuguese, France, Netherlands, England

Reformation and Counter-Reformation

• 1517-1648

• Protestant Reformation: an attempt to reform certain beliefs and practices within the Roman Catholic Church and ended with the founding of different Protestant denominations and the division of European Christianity

• Most well known: Martin Luther and his Ninety-Five Theses

• Counter-Reformation: Catholic Church's own attempt to reform the Church and stop the spread of Reformation

Divine Right of Kings

• It was believed that a king's (or queen's) right to rule was granted by God, not their subjects

• This makes any rebellion against them a sin

• Kings were able to do whatever they wanted because they were "following the will of God"

Multiple Choice

What does it mean for a King to have Divine Right? 

• Rules by the power and blessing of God. 
• Rules by the suggestions of the people.
• Rules by listening to the Church to make decisions.
• The King is not really in power at all. 

Western Europe in Early 1600s

• Vast difference in social classes

• Upper-Class: Kings, Lords Ladies; typically lived in a manor or palace, every object would be a work of art

• Lower Classes: Peasants, workers, soldiers; city-dwellers lived in crowded neighborhoods, would work from dawn to dusk but own very little; less than half of babies reached adulthood; few lived to old age; most are poor; prisons often full; had very few rights or freedoms

Enter the New Social Class

• This is where we begin to see a middle class forming, which will be the leaders of the Enlightenment

• Members of this new middle class were called "burghers" which is where the French word bourgeois comes from

Enlightenment and Scientific Period

• 1600s through 1700s

• People begin rejecting ignorance, superstition, and unproven beliefs

• Focus on reason, or the ability to question, analyze, and reach conclusions based on their own experience, not on what some other authority claims

Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution

• Renaissance paved the way for the Enlightenment

• Renaissance thinkers used ancient Greece and Rome for inspiration

• Enlightenment thinkers used reason and history

• Believed that humans could use reason and experience to uncover the laws of nature and understand the basic principles of human society and government

• Also called the "Age of Reason"

Multiple Choice

Prior to the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, what were the two main sources of thinking about the natural world?

• The words of Julius Caesar and the teachings of Buddha

• The words of Cleopatra and the Mayan calendar

• The teachings of Confucius and the U.S. Constitution

• The words of the Bible and the teachings of Aristotle

Multiple Choice

Enlightened thinkers based their philosophical beliefs on what two things?

• power and privilege
• money and fame
• good looks and charm
• reason and logic

Scientific Revolution Thinkers

This will lead to the Enlightenment

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)

• Father of modern astronomy

• First person to be credited with proposing that the Earth (and other planets) revolve around the sun

• Catholic Church did not approve

Multiple Choice

According to Copernicus, the sun  

• Revolved around the earth
• Was the center of the Universe
• Was the biggest star
•  Had many moons

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)

• Long story short, he used his telescope to help prove that Copernicus was right

• Discovered several of Jupiter's moons, mountains on Earth's moon, Saturn's rings, Venus's phases

• As with Copernicus, the Catholic Church was not a fan of him

Multiple Choice

Galileo was tried for heresy (belief that goes against religious doctrine) because he argued

• That heaven did not exist

• That Earth revolved around the sun

• Against the law of gravity

• That the sun revolved around the Earth

Sir Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

• Argued that scientists should not always accept what past scientist believed was true

• Scientists should make observations and conduct experiments

• Believed that gaining knowledge of the natural world gives people the power to make better lives

Sir Isaac Newton

Isaac Newton (1642-1727)

• Discovered the laws of gravity, invented calculus, and revealed secrets of light and color

• All during a plague outbreak during 1665 and 1666!

Isaac Newton

• Reasoned that the laws of science that apply on Earth must apply everywhere else

• There are universal laws of science

• The same force that causes an apple to fall to the ground keeps the moon in orbit around the earth and the planets in orbit around the Sun

Multiple Choice

What was Isaac Newton’s biggest contribution to the scientific revolution?  

• Laws of Gravity
• Heliocentric theory
• Geocentric theory 
• Scientific Method

Newton and the Laws of Motion

• 1st Law: A body in motion will stay in motion unless an outside force affects it

• 2nd Law: the bigger the object, the more force needed to make it move

• 3rd Law: For every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction

Isaac Newton

• Wrote Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Mathematical Principles)

• Explained the law of gravity and the laws of motion in mathematical terms

• Did not want to publish it immediately because it would be very controversial

Open Ended

How did society change from the Middle Ages to the beginning of the Enlightenment period?