The Enlightenment Period : The Age Of Reason?

There was a period in European history when religion did not govern a person’s way of life.

In the 1700s England went through a major change which would soon spread to the rest of Europe and finally the rest of the world. This major change was referred to as The Industrial Revolution which signaled a shift from agriculture to industry. People were pushed out the of the farms and into factories. This major change effected all types of people from farmers and peasants to inventors. The Industrial Revolution began in England because of its location and resources, their innovations and the new tools they created, the labor force of farmers and peasants working in the factories along with no political interference.

Theme: The Scientific Revolution in the seventeenth century did not only change the human’s perception of the natural world, but also changed people’s way of thought. As a result of the scientific revolution, people began to use logic to establish social institutions and governments. The Age of Enlightenment was an intellectual movement that took place in the eighteenth century, in which reason, social reforms, and government advanced. Both, the Scientific Revolution and The Age of Enlightenment led to more secularism and individual freedom in Europe.

The Agricultural Revolution was a time period in which farmers begin to use efficient ways to plant things. This event led to fewer people being needed on farms since the machines used for farming only need a few workers. Because farming took fewer workers, the population of Europe increased. Workers were able to have a life outside of the harsh labor of farming. The Agricultural Revolution helped paved the way for the Industrial Revolution in Britain. The industrial revolution was a time period in the 18th century in which the British experienced changes in technology and an increase in power. These technological changes made possible a great increase in the use of natural resources and the mass production of manufactured goods. Although the industrial revolution seemed like a helpful event to the people of Europe, it caused more damaging effects than it did good.

The Age of Enlightenment, a movement during the 17th and 18th century started from the Europeans, later moving into American colonies. The point of this movement was for the society to reform on a new base such as emphasizing reason and individualism over tradition. Enlightenment thinkers, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Beccaria, Locke, and Voltaire helped launched this project amongst Europeans. John Locke, for example, criticized absolute monarchy and favored self-government. Voltaire also believed that people should be able to speak their minds without the fear they may be punished. Through these philosophy influence, this eventually leads to European rulers ruling with a sense of equality, democratic governance, and abolition.

The Enlightenment brought many changes to the world. The rise of education allowed not only men, but also women to expand their minds. Back in the 1800's the role of a common household was for the male to work and provide for his family and the women to raise their children. The Industrial Revolution allowed work to be much easier, and brought a faster pace to life. While the Enlightenment, and the Industrial revolution brought forth many good methods, and ideas they both brought sufferings to low class citizens.

Americans in the Enlightenment period strongly connected themselves with the classical age in terms of how they approached their art. The Enlightenment period lasted for about 150 years, from approximately 1700 -1850. Throughout this time period many artists took inspiration from the classical age which occurred in ancient Greece and Rome hundreds of years before. We can see examples of this in buildings like The White house and Monticello in America, and Kedleston Hall in England. These three buildings, though located in very different parts of the world, all have a number of aestheticly similar attributes.

The Enlightenment period was an extremely impactful revolution which caused changes in societies around the world. It began in 1651, people across the country took a stand against their unfair rights. In order to have a peaceful society, everyone must be treated with equality which can only occur if there is a fair government system in place. If people have to fight and kill to have their natural rights granted, something has to be done about it. The enlightenment period encouraged the people to share their ideas when before they felt they had no say. When the people come together to fight for something they believe in many good and bad outcomes can take place. This time period led to many changes that have drastic effects on history. As people joined multiple documents were created showing the impact of this time period. A couple of these influential documents was the English Bill of Rights, U.S constitution, and the Haitian Constitution.

The Enlightenment was a period in the eighteenth century where change in philosophy and cultural life took place in Europe. The movement started in France, and spread to Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Germany at more or less around the same time, the ideas starting with the most renowned thinkers and philosophers of the time and eventually being shared with the common people. The Enlightenment was a way of thinking that focused on the betterment of humanity by using logic and reason rather than irrationality and superstition. It was a way of thinking that showed skepticism in the face of religion, challenged the inequality between the kings and their people, and tried to establish a sound system of ethics. The ideas behind the

The Age of Reason and Revolution Many individuals that lived in the period of time known as the Age of Reason, discovered many new inventions and advancements to improve the quality of life. Some of these advantages brought fourth new ideas to extraordinary people who forever changed the way we look at life. Although many people found these discoveries to bring great revival to mankind, others rejected these new improvements and felt as if they were defying god. These years were full of discoveries, conflicts, and new visions of the world.

The Age of Enlightenment was an intellectual and scientific movement which is characterized by its rational and scientific approach to religious, social, political, and economic issues. Enlightenment ideals challenged the way people were taught to think and let them express their criticism of the church, the monarchy or whatever system they saw as unjust. The impact of the enlightenment movement was first seen in 18th century Europe and soon spread to different parts of the world. People who believed in these ideals were called enlightenment thinkers. Enlightenment thinkers were a voice for the masses who felt they were being manipulated by people holding all the power. It also helped the masses realize that they did not need the church or monarchy, and enlightenment thinkers were able to assemble a following to stop people of power taking advantage of those who were not quite as powerful. Enlightenment thinkers gave an outlet to the common citizen who were seeing injustices in their government system.

Before the Romantic Movement it was the Age of Reason or commonly known as the Enlightenment period. The Enlightenment was a period of scientific rationalization and scientific methods, it was an advanced way of observing the world. This time period rejected the idea’s of the church and celebrated the rational mind. Many of the enlightenment thinkers, “ believed in rationalism and trusted human reason to solve the many problems of life and society, and emphasized reason, science, and respect for humanity (69 Apush ).” Enlightenment thinkers adopted the ideas of John Locke, who, emphasized on natural rights. However, in the early nineteenth century Romantic Movement began in art and literature. This movement focused on intuition and individualism. Romantics of this era did not believe in organized institution, such as, church. governmental bodies, and more importantly they rejected the idea science methods and rational approach to understanding life. Instead, “ Romanticism emphasized the individual, the subjective, the irrational, the imaginative, the personal... (sparknote).” However, one theme was most common, individualism. Individualism is, “ … political and social philosophy that emphasizes the moral worth of the individual (Lukes).” Along with this, the Romantic movement came with a wave of romantic writers, such as, John Stuart Mill. Mill in particular identified with self-consciousness or individualism. His concept of individualism presented itself in his writings,

According to Cambridge dictionary the Enlightenment was a period in the eighteenth century in Europe when many people began to emphasize the importance of science and reason, rather than religion and tradition. It was also known as the Age of Reason as it promoted the importance of individual thoughts with a focus on scientific thought and reason rather than tradition. This cultural movement is evident across all the arts; philosophy, science, literature and music. Baroque composers often had an exuberance in their music with energetic rhythms and melodies that spun out into long flowing lines with many ornaments such as trills with terraced dynamic compared to music of the Classical period which pieces are more balanced and composed in style

The Enlightenment brought about ideas that united a revolution with human reason, progress, and perfectibility. The economy during the Enlightenment improved due to bigger and better ships, more canals, and roads for better forms of transports of good and services. Their was a fall in price when it came to transportation, with this decline transportation prices allowed most individuals to purchase coaches which paved the way for tourism. This brought about realistic thinking of the opportunity of traveling which also created the idea that attitudes varied with individuals and environments. Other signs of progress were in agriculture. The abundance in good allowed more people to survive thus allowing population to grow. Healthy agriculture meant

Enlightenment, a range of ideas that spawned the Age of Reason, has catapulted human civilization into the realm of scientific reasoning. European centralized enlightenment, though not the only type of pivotal change in reasoning of its time, made its epicenter in the United Kingdom and affected other cultures as imperialism encompassed colonized areas. European enlightenment spread in contact zones normalized the notion of “us vs. them” and created a classifying system of norms for the conquered society that didn’t align with the logical and just reasoning outlined in Enlightenment. This paradox affected global contact zones, most notably those of Africa, South America, and New World origin.