Ap Euro Dbq Enlightenment

Introduction
Context
Th(re)esis
The ideas of the Enlightenment influenced parts of Europe’s political landscape differently, roaming from areas with little to no actual progress, to governments that worked to abolish out of date and archaic laws, to places that actively began to value and create new laws and ideas to protect and work toward social liberty.
Body 1 - old stuff that stayed (4, 6)
While the Enlightenment is often viewed as an immense catalyst that shocked the political landscape of Europe, many rulers desired to continue their reigns as absolute monarchs and greatly protested change with their nations. This refusal to enact permanent political change can be seen in Documents 4 and 6. In Document 4, Catherine II of Russia is demonstrating her belief that peasants are less than human and should be treated as property, citing her own supreme sovereignty as reasoning. Catherine II

expresses how she plans to stop an movement of serfs, and how she retains the right to practice absolutism within Russia.

This idea of absolutism directly opposes general Enlightenment ideas, which focus mainly on freedoms and rationality. Catherine II, being an absolute monarch of Russia, was rather skeptical toward engaging in a distribution of power, as it would take away from her authority. Document 6 was too written by an absolute monarch. While Frederick II, King of Prussia, advocated slightly for the humanization of rulers and equalization of basic laws and their applications to people, he too attacked others. Citing a less than human nature of the Jews as his defense, Frederick II attempted to expel Jews from the main areas of Prussia and contain them to the very borders. This refusal to accept and build toward religious toleration shows the archaic nature of Frederick II’s actions. Frederick II blatantly states that the only reason for keeping

any Jewish people within Prussian borders was for trade. This undisguised anti semitism shows the lack of transition from the ultra-absolutism and self-concerned nature of rulers to a more free and just society. In prohibiting Jewish life and worship in the main kingdom of Prussia, Frederick II is flagrantly condemning people and restriction the freedoms that lie at the core of the Enlightenment.
Body 2 - old stuff that left (5, 7)
Despite the portions of Europe that refused progress in all its forms, most of the rulers at least attempted to rid their nations of laws they had deemed outdated and unfair by the Enlightenment ideals.
Body 3 - new stuff that came (1, 2, 3)
The most progressive of the nations within Europe not only exterminated archaic laws, but also attempted to work toward more complex, humane, and ‘enlightened’ relationships between the people and the government.
Conclusion