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Period: 1500 to
Enlightenment
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Growth of Knowledge
There was a growth in knowledge. We were now entering new discoveries with physics, chemistry, biology, and mechanics. Galileo and Newton were the two mainly part of this growth and discoveries. -
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes had believed that all people were evil and wicked. What convinced him into believing this was after the English Civil war. He believed that everyone was selfish for themselves. Also he believed if we had no government it would be "every man against every man," which would leave life in solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. -
John Locke
John Locke had a major difference in his viewing of the people and government, Locke believed that people could self learn from their mistakes in life. Allowing people to govern their own lives or have your 3 major rights. Life, Liberty, and property. He proclaimed this so if the government ever failed to protect these rights the people would have the right to over throw the government and restart a a new government. -
Voltaire the Historian.
Voltaire was famous for extreme amount of pieces of literature about 70 of many different genres and idea's fled Paris due to fear of arrest. about His idea of separation of church and government spread through France. Voltaire had believed freedom of religious beliefs and freedom of speech. -
Baron de Montesquieu
The Baron had the idea of the separation of powers and then implemented the idea in one of his most famous books named On the Spirit of Laws for everyone to see, his book became one of his best pieces and his idea spread throughout Europe. -
Jean Jacques Rousseau
Rousseau worked as many different things such as an engraver, music teacher, tutor, and secretary which would explain why he is one of the most important people during the enlightenment. His idea was the social contract in order for people to be free of "unjust laws." -
Cesare Bonesana Beccaria
Cesare believed that torture for a crime was unessisary and so they have created a book named Crimes and Punishments in order to spread their idea throughout Europe in order to have fair punishment to criminals. -
Mary Wollstonecraft
Mary was known as woman's right activist. Mary had published an essay called "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman." Was published in 1792. She had disagreed with Rousseau on the idea of women's rights. She believed that women should be educated but most men at this time believed women should not be educated. She also believed that women had the rights to be doctors and nurses. It was hard for to achieve when most disagreed.
