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Isaac Newton was a major contributor to early Enlightenment thought. His works such as "Optiks" and "Principa Mathematica" were used a basis for many Enlightenment thinkers beliefs.
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This timeline features a list of major events during the Age of Enlightenment.
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John Locke's work revolutionized beliefs in civil government. The treatises heavily supported a legislative form of government. In the work Locke also stated that he believed humans in their natural state are reasonable beings.
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Voltaire was one of the three major Philosophes during his time. In this book he discusses why he admires the English political government.
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Frederick the Great was an Enlightened despot from Prussia. Under him, Prussia became a powerful military state with a good public education system and lots of religious toleration.
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The Encyclopedie was a culmination of the Enlightenment beliefs and ideas created during the time. The Encyclopedie gave more individuals much easier access to a wide range of information.
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Rousseau was another of the three major philosophes during the Enlightenment. He was highly anti-feminist and showed this during his 'Discourse on Inequality'.
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Candide was a popular literary work during the Enlightenment. It tells the story of Candide and was meant primarily to entertain, although it did have some deeper meaning behind it.
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The 'Social Contract' was a revolutionary Enlightenment work by Rousseau. It explained that government had power through a contract between the people and that the government should be an instrument of the general will.
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Catherine the Great was another of the Enlightened Despots and was the only ruler to be in power and involved in all three Partitions of Poland. Catherine was a very harsh ruler, but still attempted to put some of the ideals of the Enlightenment in place.
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The American Revolutionary War was the first more modern war. The war showed the rest of the world that a governed people are able to successfully rebel against their governing body. This revolution can be considered to have inspired the French Revolution a few years later.
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Smith's seminal work argued heavily for international free trade. By 1800 the book had been translated into every language in Western Europe except for Portugese
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Mary Wollstoncraft's 'Vindication of the Rights of Women' was a key piece of literature that influenced first-wave feminism. Her writings greatly inspired the suffragettes in later centuries and modern feminists today.