AP European History

Crash Course

V. The Enlightenment

• A. The Philosophes
  • 1. The philosophes were a group of thinkers and writers who espoused enlightened ideas. Taken together, they formed a grand “republic of letters.”
  • 2. The philosophes were not abstract philosophers. Instead, they dedicated themselves to exposing social problems and proposing reforms based upon implementing natural laws.
  • 3. Although many leading philosophes were French, they were a cosmopolitan group who could be found in the American colonies and across Europe.
• B. Key Ideas
  • 1. Reason
    • a. To the philosophes, reason was the absence of intolerance, bigotry, and superstition. Reason meant informed thinking about social problems.
    • b. Humans should rely on reason, not miracles, to improve society.
  • 2. Nature and natural laws
    • a. The philosophes believed that natural laws regulate both the universe and human society.
    • b. These natural laws can be discovered by human reason.
  • 3. Happiness
    • a. Philosophes had little interest in the medieval belief that people should accept misery in this world to find salvation in the hereafter.
    • b. Philosophes believed that happiness in this world was an inalienable human right.
  • 4. Progress
    • a. The philosophes were the first Europeans to believe in social progress.
    • b. The discovery of laws of economics and government would improve society and make progress inevitable.
  • 5. Liberty
    • a. The philosophes lived in societies that placed restrictions on speech, religion, and trade. They wanted to remove these limitations on human liberty.
    • b. The philosophes believed that intellectual freedom was a natural right. Without freedom of expression there could be no progress.
  • 6. Toleration
    • a. The philosophes questioned institutional religious beliefs, arguing that they perpetuated superstition, intolerance, and bigotry.
    • b. The philosophes advocated full religious tolerance.
• C. Deism
  • 1. Deists thought of God as a cosmic watchmaker who created the universe and then let it run according to immutable natural laws.
  • 2. Much of the educated elite in western Europe and America embraced deism. However, deism’s reliance upon reason and its lack of emotion had little appeal for many people.
  • 3. A new religious movement known as pietism stressed faith, emotion, and “the religion of the heart.”

VI. Voltaire (1694-1778)

• A. Prince of the Philosophes
  • 1. Voltaire was the best known and most influential philosophe.
  • 2. He was a prolific writer who popularized Newton’s scientific discoveries, criticized France’s rigid government, and denounced religious bigotry.
• B. “Crush the Infamous Thing”
  • 1. Voltaire directed his most stinging barbs at the intolerance of organized Christianity, both Protestant and Catholic.
  • 2. Voltaire championed religious tolerance. He often ended his letters with the passionate demand to “ecrasez l’infame” (“crush the infamous thing”). This ringing exclamation reminded his readers to continue the battle against the enemies of reason-bigotry, ignorance, and religious fanaticism.

VII. Denis Diderot (1713-1784) and the Encyclopedia

• A. Purpose
  • 1. Diderot was a French philosophe who became the chief editor of the Encyclopedia.
  • 2. Diderot’s goal was to bring together all the most current and enlightened thinking about science, technology, mathematics, art, and government. “AII things,” Diderot explained, “must be examined, debated, investigated without exception and without regard for anyone’s feelings.”
• B. Importance
  • 1. The Encyclopedia disseminated enlightened thinking across Europe and North America.
  • 2. It undermined established authority by including articles about controversial political and religious subjects.

VIII. Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755)

• A. The Spirit of the Laws
  • 1. Montesquieu was a French nobleman and attorney who wanted to limit the abuses of royal absolutism.
  • 2. The Spirit of the Laws represented an attempt to create a “social science” by applying the methods of the natural sciences to the study of government.
• B. Separation of Powers
  • 1. Montesquieu concluded that the ideal government separated powers among executive, legislative, and judicial branches.
  • 2. This system of divided authority would protect the rights of individuals by preventing one branch of government from gaining unrestricted control over the entire society.
  • 3. Montesquieu’s ideas had a significant influence on the writers of the American Constitution.

IX. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)

• A. Natural Education
  • 1. Rousseau presented his ideas on education in the novel Emile.
  • 2. Rousseau argued that a “natural education” should replace the rigid schooling typical of his time. The key principles of a natural education included the following:
    • a. Children are naturally good and entitled to an education that emphasizes freedom and happiness.
    • b. People develop through various stages, and individuals vary within these stages. Education must therefore be individualized since “every mind has its own form.”
    • c. Children should be encouraged to draw their own conclusions from experience. This principle anticipated what is now called “discovery learning.”
• B. The General Will
  • 1. The Social Contract, Rousseau’s treatise on politics and government, is one of the most influential books on political theory in European history.
  • 2. Thomas Hobbes and John Locke (see Chapter 8) argued that individuals entered a social contract with their rulers. In contrast, Rousseau argued that individuals entered into a social contract with one another. This created a community or organized civil society.
  • 3. The sovereign power in a state does not lie in a ruler. Instead, it resides in the general will of the community as a whole. The general will or “public spirit” is defined as any action that is right and good for all.
  • 4. Rulers are servants of the community. If they fail to carry out the people’s will, they should be removed.
  • 5. Rousseau’s concept of the general will and the sovereignty of the people influenced leaders of both the French and American revolutions. It is also important to note that twentieth-century dictators justified their rule by claiming to embody their nation’s general will.
• C. Rousseau and the Enlightenment
  • 1. Like other philosophes, Rousseau was committed to defending individual freedom and changing the existing social order.
  • 2. However, Rousseau distrusted reason and science. He trusted emotions and spontaneous feeling more than cold logic. As a result, Rousseau foreshadowed the romantic reaction to the Enlightenment.

NOTE: Textbooks contain long lists devoted to discussing the contributions of leading philosophes. Voltaire and Rousseau generate by far the most questions. Be sure you know that Voltaire supported religious toleration and opposed superstition and ignorance. Test items on Rousseau stress his concept of the general will and his views of education as presented in the novel Émile.

X. The New Economics

• A. The French Physiocrats
  • 1. French economic reformers called physiocrats were the first to question mercantilist principles.
  • 2. Led by Francois Quesnay, the physiocrats argued that economic activities should be freed from artificial restrictions. Governments should follow a laissez-faire policy of noninterference with the economy.
• B. Adam Smith (1723-1790)
  • 1. Adam Smith was the most influential advocate of laissez-faire economics.
  • 2. Like Newton, Smith combined the thought of his predecessors into a single system based upon the study and application of natural laws.
  • 3. Published in 1776, The Wealth of Nations is a landmark book that gave birth to classical economic thought.
• C. Key Ideas in The Wealth of Nations
  • 1. The role of government
    • a. Governments must not interfere with the free functioning of the market.
    • b. Governments should limit their role to defending the state against foreign invasion, protecting property, and enforcing contracts.
  • 2. Free markets
    • a. In a free market, the economic laws of supply and demand will create a self-regulating economic system.
    • b. Regulations such as tariffs hinder free trade and should be abolished.
  • 3. Self-interest and the “invisible hand”
    • a. Smith maintained that every individual is motivated by self-interest.
    • b. Competition and self-interest are socially beneficial: “Self-interest drives people to action and the Invisible Hand of competition acts as an automatic regulator so that the market will generate wealth for a nation. “
• D. Making Comparisons: The Economic Policies of Jean-Baptiste Colbert and Adam Smith
  • 1. Colbert
    • a. Believed that mercantilist policies offered the best way to increase French power and wealth
    • b. Followed economic policies designed to give France a favorable balance of trade. Colbert promoted Caribbean sugar plantations, established slaving stations in Africa, and encouraged colonies in Canada
    • c. Subsidized French industry by granting monopolies and enforcing high tariffs
  • 2. Adam Smith
    • a. Urged governments to abandon regulatory policies such as tariffs, trading monopolies, and navigation acts
    • b. Advocated a policy of free trade and minimal government interference in the economy
    • c. Believed that self-interested individuals working in a free market would increase production and wealth

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