The Enlightenment

Aim: What was "The Enlightenment" ?

Do Now: What era/revolution led to "The Enlightenment"?

Lesson Overview:

Item	Approx Time
Do Now	3-5 Min
Mini Lesson	15-20 Min
Activity	15 Min
Discussion	5-7 Min

The Enlightenment

Another result of the Scientific Revolution was the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment changed the way people lived as political and social scholars began to question the workings of society and government, while rejecting traditional ideas. While the Scientific Revolution focused on the physical world, the Enlightenment attempted to explain the purpose of government, and describe the best form of it. The most influential Enlightenment thinkers were Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Voltaire, Baron de Montesquieu, and Jean Jacques Rousseau.

Impact

Enlightenment ideas helped to stimulate people's sense of individualism, and the basic belief in equal rights. This in turn led to the Glorious Revolution is Britain, the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Latin American Revolutions. Some of these revolutions resulted in government based upon the ideas of the Enlightenment such as, Great Britain and the United States.

Elsewhere, a few monarchs retained absolute control of their countries while also enacting reform based on Enlightenment ideas. These monarchs are called Enlightened Despots. In Austria, Maria Teresa and her son Joseph II both introduced reforms based on Enlightenment ideas. They reduced the tax load on the peasants, provided free education, and ended censorship in their empire. In Russia, Catherine the Great introduced similar reforms. She enacted laws for religious toleration and free education, and also sought the advice of nobles and peasants in the running of government. However, these reforms seldom outlived the monarchs who had enacted them.

---

Classwork & Homework

Lesson PowerPoint: The Enlightenment - Overview

Lesson Activity:

• Enlightenment Graphic Organizer
• The Enlightenment Worksheet

Homework: Assignments