The Enlightenment

A REVOLUTI ON OF I DEAS
The Power of Monarchs
For much of European history, monarchies
ruled European countries
Kings and queens held absolute power
Common people had little say in the laws or
how they were enforced
The Magna Carta
In 1215, English nobles forced King John to sign the
Magna Carta, or Great Charter
This document guaranteed certain rights to English citizens
It established the idea that even kings and queens had to obey
the law
People began to question ideas about government:
Are people born with rights that must be protected?
Should citizens have more say in what their government does?
Do people have the right to overthrow an unjust government?
This was the foundation on which Enlightenment thinking
about government was based.

English Civil War
Armed conflict between Parliamentarians and Royalists over the
manner in which England would be governed.
Also involved conflict between English Puritans in Parliament and Royalists in
the Church of England
Ended with Oliver Cromwell and Parliament winning
Cromwell ruled (almost as a dictator) from 1653-1659
Cromwell was overthrown also, and the Crown restored in 1660 in Charles
II, followed by James II
*Established that the monarch cannot rule without Parliaments consent.
Dominion of New England
Limiting Self-Government
Royal Governor Sr. Edmund Adros passed
unpopular laws and too away many rights of self-
government
Created new taxes and land ownership laws
Limited town meetings
Held Church of England services in a Puritan church
without permission
Colonists felt actions were unfair
They threatened colonists rights to property, to
govern themselves,, and to worship freely
They violated rights protected by the Magna Carta
Dissent in England
James II was very unpopular in England
English protestants were upset that his policies supported Catholics
Parliament invited William of Organge and his wife, Mary, to rule
England.
This is known as the Glorious Revolution
Peaceful overthrow of James II
William and Mary became joint monarchs
Led to the end of the Dominion of New England
English Bill of Rights
To prevent further abuses, Parliament limited the power of William
and Mary, as well as all future monarchs, by passing the English Bill
of Rights. These laws:
Made Parliament, which represented the English people, the main ruling body
of England
Limited royal power to tax, raise an army, or suspend laws without approval
from Parliament
Granted freedom of speech for Parliament and made elections more free.
Influences on the Colonies
The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment was a period in European history in the 1600s and 1700s.
Enlightenment thinkers tried to use reason to understand the way the world
works and improve life.
Enlightenment thinkers asked three key questions:
John Locke (1632-1704)
English philosopher
Wrote many works, including Two Treatises of Government
(1690)
Natural Rights rights that everyone was born with:
Life, Liberty, and Property
Not given by any government, and cannot be taken away by any
government
Social Contract there is an agreement between the
government and the people
Consent of the governed
People agree to obey laws only as long as the government protects
their natural rights
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-
1778)
Was a French philosopher
Wrote many works, including The Social
Contract
Agrued that government gets its authority
from the consent of the people
Promoted ideas of representative
government
Baron de Montesquieu (1684-1775)
French Enlightenment thinker
Wrote The Spirit of Laws
Supported the separation of powers, which says that
government should be split into branches so that no
branch has too much power.
Separation of Powers
Francois-Marie Arouet (Voltaire) (1694-
1778)
French philosopher
Argued in favor of religious toleration that
everyone should be allowed to worship as
the wished, without persecution
Stop, Think, & Respond:
What do you think were the two most important Enlightenment ideas
in the eyes of the American colonists? Why? How can we see this?
Connect to the Colonies Long View
Lockes ideas convinced many colonists that individuals were born
with natural rights
Declaration of Independence would call these unalienable rights that
included Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
Locke & Rousseau argued that government got its power from the
consent of the governed
People must have a say in making laws that they follow
Many colonists argued that they were not represented in Parliament and
therefor had not given their consent
No taxation without representation
Connect to the Colonies
Voltaires belief in religious toleration
Influenced American colonists such as Thomas Jefferson and the
framers of the Constitution
Government is forbidden from establishing a religion
Individuals are free to practice their own religion


Unjust Government
When a government is unjust, the people have the right to
overthrow that government. The colonists have:
The words of Locke and Rousseau consent of the governed
the examples of the English Civil War and the Glorious Revolution

Colonial leaders and writers would argue that the kind had violated their
rights
Balanced Government