Unit 5: c. 1750-1900

Main Ideas:

Enlightenment ideals promoted the use of rational reasoning in daily life & challenged the role of religion → Questioned the absolutism of existing kingdoms

Enlightenment ideals promoted the use of rational reasoning (instead of spiritual reasoning) in daily life, reexamining the role of religion in daily life
- Rational reasoning: The use of logic and common sense rather than accrediting everything to god
- Enlightenment philosophy undermined the idea that religion is important in daily life → Encouraged kingdoms to not use religion to justify their rule

Enlightenment ideals questioned the absolute power of existing governments and promoted new ideas about the relationship between individuals & the state
- Philosophers promoted the idea of the equality of all men, questioning existing social hierarchies
- Philosophers promoted the idea that the purpose of government is to serve the needs of the people, and if the gov fails to do that, the people can overthrow the government (Jean-Jacques Rousseau's "Social Contract" Theory

Enlightenment ideals about equality encouraged many liberal reform movements about expanding basic civil rights
- Influenced the abolition of slavery & end of serfdom (achieved in mid 1800s)
- Influenced movements about universal male suffrage

Enlightenment ideals led to demands for women's suffrage, challenging existing gender hierarchies
- Many women organized feminist movements to promote women's rights:
  - Mary Wollstonecraft wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
  - Olympe de Gouges challenged the French Revolution's goal of universal male suffrage, urging for female suffrage as well
  - US feminists organized the Seneca Falls Convention (1848) to promote women's rights

Enlightenment ideals influenced many political revolutions concerning independence and equality
- American Revolution, French Revolution, Haitian Revolution, Latin American Revolutions, were all influenced by Enlightenment ideals about equality