Unit 7
Absolutism, the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment
Notes
Absolutism and limited monarchy
- Absolute monarchs like Louis XIV and Peter the Great claimed divine right and centralized power.
- England moved the other way: the English Civil War, the Glorious Revolution (1688) and the English Bill of Rights (1689) created a constitutional monarchy.
- In East Asia, the Qing and Tokugawa strengthened their rule and limited Western contact.
The Scientific Revolution
- Copernicus (heliocentric theory), Kepler, Galileo and Newton (gravity) used observation and math.
- The scientific method relies on hypotheses, experiments and evidence rather than tradition.
The Enlightenment
| Thinker | Key idea |
|---|---|
| Hobbes | Strong ruler needed; social contract |
| Locke | Natural rights; consent of the governed |
| Montesquieu | Separation of powers |
| Voltaire | Free speech, religious tolerance |
| Rousseau | General will; popular sovereignty |
| Wollstonecraft | Equal education for women |
| Adam Smith | Laissez-faire economics |
- Ideas spread through books, salons and enlightened despots, and inspired the American Revolution.
Topics in this unit
Each topic has its own short notes and practice.
Practice
1543, 1687, 1689, 1762.
If natural laws governed the universe, thinkers asked whether natural laws governed society too.
Locke opposed absolute rule without the consent of the governed.
Montesquieu proposed separating legislative, executive and judicial powers.
France was absolutist; England became a constitutional monarchy.
Rousseau wanted government based on the general will of free citizens.
Free response
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Free-response question
In the 1600s and 1700s, Europeans debated who should hold power and why.
(a) Describe how absolute monarchs justified their power.
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They claimed the divine right of kings: God gave them their authority, so they answered only to God and not to their subjects or any legislature.
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(b) Explain how ONE Enlightenment thinker challenged absolute monarchy.
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Locke argued that people have natural rights to life, liberty and property and that government gets power from the consent of the governed. If a ruler violates these rights, the people may replace him.
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(c) Explain ONE way Enlightenment ideas influenced a later government or revolution.
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The American Declaration of Independence (1776) used Locke's ideas of natural rights and consent of the governed, and the U.S. Constitution used Montesquieu's separation of powers.
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