More handpicked essays just for you.
The impacts of the French revolution on French society
The impacts of the French revolution on French society
The influence of the Enlightenment
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
2. Analyze the ways in which the French Revolution and Napoleonic period led people to challenge Enlightenment views of society, politics and human nature.
The 17th century Enlightenment philosophers brought new ideas, different from what the people were used to, that spread throughout Europe. However, the recent events of the French Revolution and Napoleon’s reign, made people challenge these so-called “enlightened” ideas. Although the Enlightenment sparked new ideas in Europe, the tragic events of the French revolution and the reign of Napoleon, caused people to question the Enlightenment views of society, such as religious tolerance, politics, such as the weakness of power by the people, and human nature, such as the “tabula rasa” idea.
…show more content…
One idea was that man is in a contract with the state and he can rebel if the state challenges his rights. This idea was brought back during the French Revolution and the Napoleonic period because the 3rd Estate felt that the monarchy deprived them of proper representation in the Estates General. So, the 3rd Estate formed their own assembly, which resulted in great conflicts. After the turmoil of the French Revolution, people began to put more faith into rulers and parliaments, because they feared that a revolution of the same magnitude could happen again. The Enlightenment also brought several ideas regarding religion. Voltaire hated the oppressiveness of religion and so he advocated for religious tolerance. After the events of the French Revolution and Napoleon’s reign, people began to side with conservatism in order to avoid another revolution and tyrannical leader.
The French Revolution made people reconsider political ideas of the Enlightenment. For example, Thomas Hobbes, the author of the Leviathan, advocated his belief for a supreme and absolute ruler to govern over the people. However, after Napoleon named himself emperor and had too much power, people began to realize that they shouldn’t allow for too much power to be in the hands of one person. The Congress of Vienna, which was held from 1814-1815, made sure that no other European power could ever rise to the level that
1789 was a year that would be imprinted on the minds of Western Europeans for the rest of history. The beginning of a new country who had fought for their rights… the United States of America. Spielvogel states, “To many Europeans it proved that the liberal political ideas of the Enlightenment were not the vapid utterances of intellectuals… The premises of the Enlightenment seemed confirmed; a new age and a better world would be achieved.” (Spielvogel 567). The Revolution embodied the living aspect of the Enlightenment Ideals in Western Europeans minds. They seen what the ideals looked like in action, and they started to build upon that idea to implement in their own lives When the Continental Congress drafted the Declaration of Independence, they took some of the core ideals from the great Enlightenment thinkers to create the living embodiment in the United States. The American Revolution may not have influenced Western Europe physically, however, it has influenced them in ways such as the French Revolution. The origins of the French Revolution can be traced back from two different areas. The Estates (classes), and a wave of bad agricultural years that led to a rise in the poor. However, according to Spielvogel, “The actual influence of the ideas of the philosophes is difficult to prove… but once the Revolution began, the
The Enlightenment political thought helped the Glorious Revolution of 1688 in England. James II wanted to strengthen his royal power alone and weaken the militia while raising his own army. The Enlightenment helped the English opponent to come forth and overthrow their king with the help of the Prince William of Orange and his wife Mary. They then reestablished the monarchy and accepted the Parliaments Bill of Rights. With the Enlightenment period, individuals helped get their words out and they learned to questions their ideals and beliefs. With the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the individuals were able to overthrown their king and establish the representative government and that a well-regulated militia under the locals control was best for everyone. The Enlightenment political thought helped the Glorious Revolution to establish a representative government and take control on what’s best for
John Locke’s ideas on creating a government by the people and Voltaire’s ideas on practicing any religion shows how many enlightenment philosophers wanted people to live peacefully with others and the society. The ideas of many philosophers helped shape the capitalist, democratic world in which we live today. Today's government was created with a legislative and executive branch, like what Locke suggested and women have more rights, such as getting education and jobs that are same as those of men. Enlightenment philosophers main ideas on increasing human rights and equality helped create a better society during the Enlightenment period and
The Enlightenment period in Europe was a shift in the way that society thought about power and liberty. The ideals of this period helped to inspire the revolutions of the 18th century. The American colonies desired liberty from foreign rule, the French wanted to increase the power of the people in their class structure, and the Haitians fought for representation for the millions of slaves on their island. While the ideas of the enlightenment were not fully employed in each of these revolutions, they brought the nations closer to a fully representative government, rather than one of absolute power.
would change became reality. This was a threat to the power of the king. The different
The Enlightenment itself ignited the changes in perspective that were needed to provoke improvement in society and set new standards for our future. These standards spread rather rapidly across Europe and eventually to America and challenged the old order. These ideas of rational thinking over religion and authority delivered a vast political change throughout the world which can still be felt today. These revolutionary thoughts of rationalism brought on freedom of speech and the demand for equality in society. This was not only the igniter to the French revolution but was also, how many governments including the United States based their modern
During the Age of enlightenment people began to reform society using reason, challenge ideas of tyranny and of the Roman Catholic Curch. People for the first time started advancing knowledge through the use of the scientific method. Enlightenment type thinking has had a huge impact on the culture, politics, and g...
Napoleon and the Enlightenment The enlightenment was a time of great learning throughout Europe during the eighteenth century. Although the period is significant for scientific and other scholastic advancements, it is most important because it allowed for the opening of great minds—such as that of Napoleon Bonaparte. Shortly after this enlightenment made its way through Europe, revolution and civil war ripped through France between 1879 and 1899. The unrest of the time called for a strong ruler.
The Age of Enlightenment saw many great changes in Western Europe. It was an age of reason and philosophes. During this age, changes the likes of which had not been seen since ancient times took place. Such change affected evert pore of Western European society. Many might argue that the Enlightenment really did not bring any real change, however, there exists and overwhelming amount of facts which prove, without question, that the spirit of the Enlightenment was one of change-specifically change which went against the previous teachings of the Catholic Church. Such change is apparent in the ideas, questions, and philosophies of the time, in the study of science, and throughout the monarchial system.
The Enlightenment is a unique time in European history characterized by revolutions in science, philosophy, society, and politics. These revolutions put Europe in a transition from the medieval world-view to the modern western world. The traditional hierarchical political and social orders from the French monarchy and Catholic Church were destroyed and replaced by a political and social order from the Enlightenment ideals of freedom and equality(Bristow, 1). Many historians, such as Henry Steele Commager, Peter Gay, have studied the Enlightenment over the years and created their own views and opinions.
The Enlightenment is held to be the source of many modern ideas, such as the primary values of freedom and reason. The views of philosophers such as Voltaire are considered to be the source of many essential changes in countries such as America and France. His views on religion, government, and freedom are what people remember most because they have not died out in today’s society.
"The Enlightenment" is used to characterize many new ideas and advancements in 18th century philosophy, science, and medicine. The principal trait of Enlightenment philosophy is the belief that people create a better environment in which to live. Pangloss, the...
The Enlightenment was a period in European culture and thought characterized as the “Age of Reason” and marked by very significant revolutions in the fields of philosophy, science, politics, and society (Bristow; The Age of Enlightenment). Roughly covering the mid 17th century throughout the 18th century, the period was actually fueled by an intellectual movement of the same name to which many thinkers subscribed to during the 1700s and 1800s. The Enlightenment's influences on Western society, as reflected in the arts, were in accordance with its major themes of rationalism, empiricism, natural rights and natural law or their implications of freedom and social justice. The Enlightenment began or could be said to have been propelled by the scientific revolution of the earlier centuries, particularly the Newtonian universe, as modernizing science gradually undermined the ancient Western geocentric idea of the universe as well as accompanying set of presuppositions that had been constraining and influencing philosophical inquiry (Bristow; Lewis; Mattey).
...n, the advancement of these three philosophies from the theological Puritan views to the great scientific and reason ideals of the Enlightenment showed how a reform of beliefs and ideas resulted in the progressively modern ethics that our government is based on today. Scientific reasoning of the world ignited ideas that the ignorant society of the Puritans was immensely closed-minded about which gave way to how we explain how things happen through the use of science and reasoning. Though Puritans saw that this great reform was a blasphemy against God, the Enlightenment expanded different beliefs of religion which furthered societies intellect and understanding of religion. The social awakening of the arts help pave the way for entertainment we have today, and if not for this great “awakening” of knowledge our society would be far less advanced than we are today.
The Enlightenment was a major influence of the French Revolution. The Enlightenment caused the revolution in three ways. First of all, the Enlightenment made people see how France was not a perfect society. It opened their eyes to the fact that France was helping other countries more. For example, the French government gave money to support the American Revolution while the people in their own country need money. Also, Voltaire who was an Enlightenment thinker caused uproar by the peasants upon his return to France when he announced that England was superior to France (Voltaire 7). Second, it made people skeptical about whether the government was there to fulfill their duty of protecting the people’s natural rights. The Enlightenment encouraged people to question divine right, the God-given authority rulers claimed to have (Enlightenment, Its Origins and the French Revolution 15). Finally, it made the third estate realize how the taxation was simply greed. It made their eyes open to the fact that...