Influence of the Enlightenment

• The Enlightenment was an intellectual and cultural movement across Europe in the 18th century, emphasising the questioning of tradional assumptions around the church, absolutism and societal structures in France
• It emphasised the refusal not to accept unproven dogma (beliefs asserted without question or proof)
• Philosophes did not advocate for concrete policy proposals, rather encouraged debate over certain topics, political (distribution of wealth/ state of society) or otherwise
• The Enlightenment was underpinned by ideas theorised by Lockeian ideology, emphasising consent in government and natural rights of life, property and liberty
• Montesquieu was a Baron and President of the Parlement of Bordeaux

  He wrote the 'Persian Letters' and 'The Spirit of Laws', of which was his most popular work and sold thousands of copies across Europe
• Montesquieu advocated for a separation of powers : executive, legislature and judiciary, with all being equal in nature, constitutional monarchy and believing government should be regulated by the nobility and church

  Inspired by Locke in the 17th century
• Important to note : Philosophes were a collective of writers, intellectuals and scientists, not revolutionaries. The majority had little regard for the common people and were dead before the revolution began
• However, the ideas of the Philosophes provided a basis for revolutionary ideas to germinate and prosper in wider society
• Voltaire was a writer who produced plays, poetry and Philosophical works

  'Candide' is his best known work (satire) and others include the play 'Oedipus' and 'Letters on England'
• Voltaire was imprisoned in the Bastille for a year, and later travelled to England, where he came to admire the constitutional monarchy, freedom of speech and open mockery over politicians and systems in the London press
• Voltaire was a deist (belief in a less interventionist form of God), however was a fierce critic of the church as an institution, criticising the practice of venality, tithes and the greed of clerics
• Rousseau spent the majority of his life in exile from Paris, trying to escape the authorities who had banned his most famous novel - 'The Social Contract'
• Rousseau defended Diderot, writing articles that were published in his Encyclopedie, and was heavily inspired by Lockeian ideology
• Rousseau advocated for a social contract between people and leaders, with people having the right to overthrow leaders if they weren't acting in accordance with the general will, thus also articulating the principle of popular consent
• Diderot was the son of a cutlery maker, one of his essays was deemed heretical and thus he was imprisoned for several months in 1749

  Most famous work was his Encylopedie, took 22 years to compile, aimed to consist of ‘all the world's knowledge’, not exclusively political
• Encyclopedie was outlawed in 1759, however helped to criticise systems of absolutism and the church as an institution, Diderot rejected religion himself and viewed the church as a bar to progress
• Enlightenment gave rise to the idea that ordinary people were born with basic rights, principle of ‘blank slate’ / 'tabula rasa' emerged, therefore no one able to assert superiority over another, thus defying divine right and principles of absolutism

  • Appeal of the constitutional monarchy to many, therefore 
• The importance of the Rule of Law was emphasised, Voltaire outlined this in his novel, using sarcasm inspired from London publications to highlight it

  Emphasis also placed on the freedom of the individual and respective liberties they should have
• Mercantilism - strict state regulation on the economy, particularly surrounding duties and taxation, more protectionist measures, favoured under the AR
• Quesnay emphasised the importance of free trade, abolition of guilds/ monopolies and tariffs in order to provide maximum benefit to the economy

  Also advocated for the idea of a single land tax paid by all
• Laissez faire ideology and ideas of Quesnay underpinned Turgot’s attempts at reform (Six Edicts attempts at abolishing guilds and universal land tax), however they were not widely accepted as in 1776, a remonstrance was published in response to them
• Quesnay was a a physician to Louis XV and Madame Pompadour, coined the term ‘physiocracy’ (saw labour as the sole source of value to the economy), economic principle involving little govt intervention
• Salons were places where gatherings of intellectuals and ‘interesting people’ would congregate, at the home of a host, where the aim was to refine the knowledge of those invited

  Provided intellectual and social exchanged for both sexes due to the nature of the hosts
• Academies were clubs for writers, artists and teachers to engage in debates and lectures when attending, also had reading rooms where attendees could explore different texts, i.e Encyclopedie 

  Robespierre (dept at the E.G and later Jacobin leader) was made director of an academy in Arras
• Freemasonries were charitable organisations where members pegged to promote fraternity, faith and charity 

  By 1744, there were 20 lodges in Paris and 20 in the provinces
• Literacy rate was around 60% in urban areas, such as Paris, and 50% in more rural ones, allowing for ideas to permeate to the lower echelons of society from those who were more involved in the promulgation of enlightened ideas, such as the haute bourgeoisie and 2nd Estate 
• Books were typically expensive, so whilst the lower echelons of the 3rd Estate wouldn’t have accessed them, journals, newspapers and even plays were seen to be more accessible to a wide range of people in promulgating enlightened ideas

  These were also used to attack M.A, some had more extreme opposition to systems such as the AR, others more moderate
• Could be argued revolution went through stages in which each philosophe’s ideas were implemented, providing a multi-faceted fuelling of the revolt itself
• Benjamin Franklin (founding father) was seen to embody enlightened principles himself, Declaration of Independence drawing heavily on enlightened principles 

  Enlightened ideas travelled to US colonies such as Philadelphia, beginning debates and discussions 
• Many philosophes did not directly attack the church, but rather critiqued them for their control fo the ‘ignorant masses’ and supposed exploitative measures, such as threat of eternal damnation, in convincing society to pledge allegiance to institutions rather than god
• Montesquieu’s idea of shared sovereignty seen to face challenges from the nature from the 1st and 2nd Estates in wanting to maintain their powers and positions of privilege
• Lafayette and Condorcet were heavily involved in the 1776 AWI, with Lafayette taking part in person, and Condorcet being made an honorary member of New Haven
• French revolution arguably legitimised through the AWI, both underpinned by enlightened ideas, as demonstrated these were possible to be implemented in a concrete rather than purely theoretical way as initially proposed by the philosophes
• Origins of the salons emerged with Madame Rambouillet in the 17th century, and the salons themselves served as a precursor to the political clubs that emerged in the 1790s
• Reports from the AR became hot topics of conversation for the salons, ‘electrifying them’

  Salons would study the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, with prominent figures in the AWI such as Jeffreson and Franklin frequenting them
• Suzanne Curchod (Madame Necker)

  • Some who frequented the salons supported Necker’s elevation into the king’s ministry later on, demonstrating concentration of political influence they held
  • Her daughter (Madame Stael) went on to become a salonniere later on, after frequenting her mother’s salon, prevalent in the romanticism movement 
• Sophie de Condorcet

  • Salon frequented by several philosophes, and occasionally people such as Turgot, Jefferson, Adam Smith and Olympe de Gouges
• There were 184 newspapers in circulation by 1789
• Madame Geoffrin 

  • Played host to many of the most influential thinkers and philosophes during the Enlightenment 
  • Welcomed artists/ architects to her salon, including the famed master of rococo art, Francois Boucher, who painted the portraits of Madame Pompadour and the Triumph of Venus
• Many enlightened figures did not support the salonnieres or believe in the contribution of women’s ideas to enlightened principles, believed they should indirectly benefit from the enlightenment without being involved 

  However, Condorcet advocated for female suffrage, abolition of slavery, religious toleration and equal rights for the sexes