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TRANSCRIPT
Absolutism and Enlightenment
The Commercial Revolution
Most of Europe remained agricultural between 1600-1770
The Commercial Revolution marked an important step in
the transition from the local economies of the Middle Ages to
the formation of a global economy
The Commercial Revolution consisted of:
Global trade
Mercantilism
Free Enterprise
Global Trade People began producing goods for sale rather than for personal use
Trade increased as sugar, rice, tobacco, and precious metals were shipped
from the Americas to Europe
China exported silks and porcelain
India exported tea
East indies produced spices
Africa provided slave workers
Europe exported woolen cloth,
lumber, and finished goods
Mercantilism European kings hoped to increase
their power through the system of Mercantilism
Mercantilists acted to remove trade barriers within their countries
The taught that wealth and power were based on amassing gold and silver which paid for soldiers to protect the state
Mercantilists believed the wealth of the world was limited so it had to be gained through war or trade
As a result, England, France, and Holland established overseas colonies.
In the 1700s, England and France fought a series of wars for control of North America and India
Gold, Silver, Fur, Limber,
food
Mother Country
Manufactured Goods
Colonies
Free Enterprise
Merchants and bankers laid the foundations for the free enterprise
system (aka Capitalism)
Under this system, business owners risked their capital(money) in
a business in order to make profits
Growth of new businesses led to a demand for huge sums of
money
Money was needed to pay for the facilities and materials used in
manufacturing or international trade
Ships had to be insured because there was a high risk of loss from
accident, weather and war
Joint-stock companies were formed, privately-owned companies
that sold stock to investors, investors bought stock for a share of
the profit
Financial Revolution
Banks developed new ways of raising and lending money
Some governments issued funds that were sold to the public, the
government then paid interest to the purchasers of theses funds
Bankers and merchants became more influential in government
In Holland, rich merchants were able to establish an oligarchy –
rule by a few.
As a result of the Commercial Revolution, Europeans had many
more products from which to choose. This led to more choices in
occupations as well as consumption. These advantages led to
rising standards of living for many Europeans.
The Age of Kings (1600-1770)
In the Middle Ages the power of kings had been limited by nobles, parliaments, and the Catholic Church, but during the 16th and 17th centuries things changed. Kings were now able to increase their power.
Henry the VIII made himself the head of the national church, the religious wars that followed allowed kings to develop standing armies, create new government officials (bureaucrats) and increase taxes.
In the Middle Ages nobility were an independent source of power. In the 1600s, rulers like Louis XIV took control of the nobility. He forced nobles to live in the palace to keep an eye on them.
Justifications of Royal Power
New theories arose to justify royal authority
Many rulers adopted the Renaissance view justifying their actions on the basis of “reasons of state”
An Englishman, Thomas Hobbes, wrote a book Leviathan, he argues for a social contract and rule by an absolute monarch. He believed that man was not naturally good without strong central authority to keep order, life would be “nasty, brutish, and short” society would break down into a “war of every man against every man.” Hobbes said kings were justified in seizing absolute power because they could act impartially to maintain order in society.
Monarchs such as James I in England and Louis XIV in France justified their power on the basis of divine right
According to this theory, a king was God’s deputy on Earth, and royal commands expressed God’s wishes.
Absolutism in France
Louis XIV “the Sun King” provided a model for other absolute monarchs to follow
His will was law, he interfered in the economic and religious lives of his subjects
He demanded all Protestants convert to Catholicism or leave France
His aggressive behavior caused all of Europe to unite against France, he left his country bankrupt at his death
The Palace at Versailles
Absolutism in Russia
By the end of the 15th century Moscow declared
its independence from the Mongols, next they
increased the size of Muscovy by conquering
neighboring lands
The bulk of Russia’s population were serfs,
peasants who by law were required to stay on
the land and work for the landowner
Russian lord pledged absolute loyalty to the
Tsar, Russian Rulers adopted the system of
royal absolutism on a large scale
Peter the Great
& Catherine the Great Peter the Great – (1682-1725) Peter turned Russia from a
backward nation into a modern power
Under Peter Russia experienced an Enlightenment, he has nobles shave their beards and dress in a Western fashion
He took control of the Church, opened schools, imported foreign workers, moved the capital to St. Petersburg, a newly built modern city
Catherine the Great – (1762-1796) 40 years later Catherine continued Peter’s policies of expansion and Westernization, granted nobles their own charter of rights
During her reign the conditions for the serfs became worse
She defeated the Ottoman Empire, expanded Russia’s border to the Black Sea
The Road to Limited Monarchy
Magna Carta – the nobles forced King John to sign this agreement limiting the king’s powers.
Parliament – establishment of a legislative body made up of nobles and commoners
Tudor Monarchs – Henry VIII and Elizabeth I created a strong centralized monarchy based on a sense of national unity, Church of England, and sharing power with parliament
Stuart Monarchy – James I believed in the divine right of kings and often conflicted with Parliament, his son Charles I tried to establish absolutism, dissolved parliament, had to recall them to pursue his policies in Scotland
English Civil War (1642-1649) the conflict
between James I and parliament soon led to a
civil war, which parliament won, next in 1649
his son Charles I was tried, convicted and
executed
Glorious Revolution (1688-1689) a second
English revolution occurred when James II
converted to Catholicism failed to respect his
subjects’ rights. He was deposed and his
daughter Mary and her husband William were
invited to rule. They agreed they would neither
collect new taxes or raise an army without
obtaining parliament’s consent
Influential Writers
John Locke – challenged the divine right theory
and the views of Hobbes. He believed that
governments obtained their power from the
people they govern, not from God. He defined
the people’s right to revolt when the government
abused its power.
Sir William Blackstone – (1723 – 1780) An
English judge, summarized English law in his
Commentaries on the Laws of England, this book
explained English common law. He defined the
rights of individuals in English law, as well as
property rights that could not be violated, even
by the king
Scientific Revolution
The roots of the Scientific Revolution can be found in the -Renaissance with the work of Copernicus, Galileo, Harvey, and other scientists
The revolution in science was based on the new scientific method, in which people observed nature, made hypotheses through experiments
Galileo conducted tests on the motion of objects to find general principals of physics
Robert Boyle – known as the father of Chemistry conducted tests on gases at different temperatures and pressures, he was the first to perform controlled experiments
Sir Isaac Newton – the most influential thinker of the Scientific Revolution, his book Principia Mathematicaconnected the speed of falling objects on Earth to the movements of planets, he reduced all these patterns into a single formula – the law of gravity
The Enlightenment
An important movement in the 18th century European thought
The spark for the Enlightenment came from the Scientific Revolution
Enlightenment thinkers believed that by applying reason and scientific laws, people would be better able to understand both nature and one another
Many of the Enlightenment thinkers were French, influenced by French Protestants followers of John Calvin who argued that people could challenge the actions of an “ungodly” king
Enlightenment ideas were applied by Thomas Jefferson in the writing of the American Declaration of Independence, the purpose of government was to protect the natural rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Key Thinkers of the Enlightenment Voltaire(1694-1778) – poked fun at traditional authority in
society, government, and the church, His views on religious toleration and intellectual freedom influenced the leaders of the American and French Revolution
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) – believed a government should express the “general will” of the people. His book, The Social Contract helped to inspire the democratic ideas of the French Revolution
Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) – argued for a separation of powers in government as a check against tyranny. His book, The Spirit of Laws, encouraged the development of a system of checks and balances
Adam Smith (1723-1790) – described capitalism in his book, The Wealth of Nations, he explained how competition and the division of labor help to guide a free-market economic system and government should follow a laissez-faire or hands-off approach policy towards the economy
Enlightenment Despotism
Enlightened Despots were absolute monarchs who tried to use
Enlightenment ideas to reform their societies “from above”. They
often came from countries without a strong middle class.
Catherine the Great of Russia, Frederick the Great of Prussia, and
Joseph II of Austria were examples of enlightened despot rulers