Chapter 12: Absolutism and Enlightenment

The political theory that one ruler should hold all power within the boundaries of a country, free from any constitutional restraint or limitation

1. Religious and territorial conflicts created fear and uncertainty

2. Due to warfare, governments built large armies and placed high taxes on the peasant population

3. Poor economic conditions (taxes) and food shortages (little ice age) resulted in peasant revolts

5 Core concepts of the Enlightenment

what was natural was also good and reasonable

• English thinker who wrote Leviathan in 1651.

  • argued people were naturally cruel, greedy, and selfish

  • To escape it, people entered into a social contract (people gave up their freedom for an organized lifestyle)

• He believed that only a powerful government, such as an absolute monarchy, could ensure an orderly society.

• was an English thinker

• thought people were basically reasonable and moral

• believed people had natural rights

• wrote the Two Treatises of Government

  • he argued that people formed governments to protect their natural rights

  • Rejected absolute monarchy.

  • Believed people were born with a blank slate

  • “tabula rasa”

• he published The Spirit of the Laws in 1748,

  • discussed governments throughout history.

  • He felt that the best way to protect liberty was to divide the various functions and powers of government into 3 branches: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial.

• defended the principle of freedom of speech

• used biting wit as a weapon to expose the abuses of his day

• targeted officials and aristocrats, battled inequality, injustice, and superstition

• detested the slave trade, and deplored religious prejudice

• He was later imprisoned and forced into exile.

• produced a 28-volume set of books called the Encyclopedia.

• His purpose was "to change the general way of thinking".

• The Encyclopedia:

  • denounced slavery

  • praised freedom of expression

  • urged education for all.

• believed people in their natural state were basically good

• natural innocence was corrupted by the evils of society

• Wrote his ideas in a book titled The Social Contract

  • wrote about how society placed too many limitations on people's behavior

  • believed some controls were necessary but should be minimal

  • Believed that the good of the community as a whole should be placed above individual interests.

• Wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Women

  • called for equal education for boys and girls

  • she believed education could give women the tools they needed to participate with men in public life

• He is known as the father of Modern Economics

• wrote The Wealth Of Nations

• Free market

  • the belief that an unregulated exchange of goods and services would help everybody

  • would produce more goods at lower prices, making them affordable for everybody

  • argued that the free market should be allowed to operate and regulate businesses

• Free Enterprise System

  • favored a free enterprise system in which commerce and business compete for profit with little to no interference from the government

  • Was a supporter of Laissez Faire

a policy or attitude of letting things take their own course, without interfering

• believed laws exist to preserve social order not to avenge crimes and that an accused person should receive a speedy trial (no torture).

• criticized common abuses of justice such as torture and the death penalty.

• believed that the degree of punishment should be based on the seriousness of the crime (not their social status).

• Abolish capital punishment