Discovering Our Past: Medieval and Early Modern Times

Chapter 11: The Age of Enlightenment

Chapter Overview

During the 1500s, the Scientific Revolution began Europeans began understanding how mathematics and experimentation would lead to advances in science. Astronomy was the first science affected by the Scientific Revolution. New discoveries challenged the belief that God had made the earth as the center of the universe. Nicolaus Copernicus developed a heliocentric theory of the universe. Johannes Kepler expanded on Copernicus's theory and added the idea that planets move in ellipses. Galileo Galilei made a third important breakthrough. Galileo believed new knowledge would come only through experiments. His work discredited many long-standing theories. English mathematician Isaac Newton brought together the work of the three scientists with his theories of gravity and the laws of motion. Other European thinkers applied science to society.

European thinkers believed that scientific laws governed human life, and once uncovered, people could use the knowledge to make society better. The Age of Enlightenment challenged faith and tradition and replaced those theories with reason. Political thinkers believed natural law should be applied to everyone, and it could be understood by reason. Enlightenment thinkers disagreed on how natural law should impact political power. Some believed that natural law made absolute monarchy the best form of government, while others used the law to affirm democratic ideas. Women began calling for equal rights during this period.

During the Age of Absolutism, monarchs held total power, but the ideas of the Enlightenment spread. Many rulers like Frederick the Great supported reforms during the Enlightenment, yet remained in power. However, in the late 18th century, the ideas of liberty and equality challenged the rule of powerful kings and queens. In America, tensions rose between the British colonies and the British government. Finally, the colonies rebelled and issued the Declaration of Independence. After Britain relinquished its control over America, colonists struggled with how to govern the new nation. The ideas of the American Revolution inspired the French to launch their own revolution in 1789.