the+enlightenment

Overview of the Enlightenment: The enlightenment was a period where people started thinking for them self and without guidance of religion. People started not basing science of the bible but of the world and began to explore. The people started questioning Catholic Church ideas because; the ideas did not match up to the ideas of the traditional Christianity. The enlightenment really question the ideas of [|divine right of kings] , and believed the people should have say in who leads them. The enlightenment began in England in the 17th century; the enlightenment began to spread through Europe in the 18th century and eventually became worldwide. Some of the enlightenment ideas were religious tolerance, and they wanted equality. “[|humanism] “ in the 14th century is what started the enlightenment because it got the people thinking. "Enlightenment." //World History: The Modern Era//. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 21 Mar. 2012. EFFECTSThe Enlightenment era was when people began to question the church and explore new ideas and the world worked. People like John Locke wanted people to protect their natural rights of liberty, life, and property. The Enlightenment was also a major reason for the French and American Revolution. Because of thinkers like Isaac Newton and John Locke people began to doubt the existence of God. All of these ideas will change Europe forever. People across the Atlantic were also reading into these ideas. The first states United States Constitution show the ideas of the Enlightenment in the early America. Before the Enlightenment was represented by an angry god, superstition, and absolute submission to authority. [] Causes The biggest cause of the Enlightenment was the “Thirty years war”, which lasted from 1618 to 1648. It made German writers write about harsh criticisms about nationalism and warfare. John Comenius and Hugo Grotius were the first of these writers during the Enlightenment to go against things like tradition and they were the first to create better solutions.

Europeans interest in the world developed into more of a scientific study, while larger exploration of the world brought Europe to other cultures and other philosophies. Centuries of mistreatment at the monarchies and at churches made average citizens in Europe come to a breaking point, where the most smart and good speakers rose up to speak out against the mistreatment happening. The church’s did not like the ideas of advancing in science and technology. Many people who created the ideas of the advancement in science and technology were set to trial and imprisoned.

Nicolaus Copernicus was one of the people who created the new ideas. He created the “Heliocentric model of the universe and solar system”. He said the sun was in the middle of the solar system, and the Earth was not. His thought about the sun being in the middle of the universe completely went against what the church had taught. His idea changed many people’s thoughts and ideas in Europe which started the Enlightenment. []