The Enlightenment

Topics: The Wealth of Nations An Overview Religious Outlooks Enlightened Despots The Philosophes Elite Culture Popular Culture The Wealth of Nations

The Wealth of Nations

An Overview
Up until the 1700s, Europe’s population had cyclical behavior (little net change), depending on natural phenomena like poor harvests, crop failures, disease (esp. Plague) etc. In 1730 a new demographic era started, and by 1800, Europe’s population had increased 50%, from 120 million to 190 million. Prussia, Sweden, Spain, France (most densely populated nation) and especially England experienced tremendous growth. In most cases (not England), the declination of mortality rates overshadowed the growth of birth rates. Improved climate created stability and better food supply (improved climate, opening of new agricultural land, new transportation networks). Diseases (like TB, typhoid, malaria, dysentery, influenza, typhus, smallpox) were still present, although less effective with better nourished population.

Economic Changes
During the 18th century, the overall trend of economic change was positive. After 1730 (after a few decades of stagnation following War of Spanish Succession), significant growth started and lasted until Napoleonic war peace settlements. This period featured gradual price inflation (caused by growing demand for food, land, goods, and jobs).

This growth did not affect all sectors of society equally. While landlords, employers, merchants and landed peasants benefitted, the poor, landless peasants suffered as grain prices and rent grew faster than wages. The high rents and low wages transferred wealth from workers/peasants to employers/landowners. Inflation drove many tenants off of land and allowed merchants/manufacturers to sell goods for more and pay workers less.

Proindustrialization refers to economic development which happened just before the rise of factories (before late 1700s). It increased population growth and introduced manufacturing to rural areas. It’s closely related to the putting-out system, where merchants distributed raw materials (wool, flax) to households, where they spun (into yarn), wove or finished the textiles, and then returned them to merchants for sale. Its many economic effects include strengthening market networks, giving merchants capital (which could be reinvested in production), providing needy families revenue, and thus increasing demand for products/services. Socially, it familiarized peasants with manufacturing processes.

Changes in Industry
While 18th century economics were traditional in many ways, dramatic changes began in the late 1700s, especially in England’s cotton cloth manufacturing. The two major innovations were more efficient tools/machines and energy to operate them.

Two big economic terms are performance (measured in output per person) and structure (elements of society which support performance—economic, legal, politics, taxes, etc.).

The challenges faced in changing the structure of Europe’s economy were:

• Limited Market Size – Europe’s markets were isolated by physical barriers, political frontiers, tariffs, and different laws, money, or measurement units. This slowed the growth of specialized industries and the spreading of money/labor.

• Disparity in Wealth Distribution – In many nations, aristocracies used most of the income; economies catered to their desires and produced luxury goods in small quantities. There was less incentive to manufacture cheaper goods on a large scale.

• Property Rights/Privileges – These practices worked against innovation because rents and tolls often sucked up capital that would otherwise be available to consumers (peasants) and entrepreneurs (merchants).

• Guild/Government Regulation – Guilds and governments enforced regulations controlling how goods could be sold, apprentices taken on, or workers hired. Many regulations were self-serving and didn’t support overall growth.

• Cultural Attitudes – Many Europeans still considered money “tainted” and focused on purchasing noble titles. This discouraged some from entering business.

Adam Smith and Laissez-Faire Ideology
Adam Smith, a Scottish philosopher, revolutionized economics in his An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (1776). Smith believed wealth came from the added value of manufactured goods produced by investment, capital, and labor. Economic progress, he argued, required the freedom to pursue one’s self-interests without restriction by guilds, the state, or tradition. Natural divisions of labor should be encouraged. This became known as laissez-faire economics.

Smith also introduced the concept of the invisible hand: if everyone pursued their self-interests, it would benefit society as a whole. Laissez-faire caught on in England among businesspeople and factory owners. In 1786, France and Britain signed a free-trade treaty to lower tariffs on textiles. Guilds weakened, revolutionary France abolished guilds in 1791, and Britain repealed apprenticeship regulations in the 1790s.

The Enlightenment
Starts in England with Locke and Newton, but eventually spreads to France.

The Enlightenment was an intellectual movement of the 18th century characterized by:

• The triumph of science

• Skepticism towards religion

• Ideas of progress and the use of reason

• Urge for empirical proof

Central ideas included:

• Science

• Skepticism

• Liberty

• Criticism of authority

• Concept of “proof”

• Question of the unknown

• Religious toleration

• Education

• Enlightened despotism

Examples:

• Richard Simon (1678) wrote Critique of the Old Testament, highlighting inconsistencies in the text.

• Joseph Priestley isolated oxygen; Antoine Lavoisier analyzed air and water, explaining combustion.

• G.L. Buffon, keeper of the French Botanical Gardens, wrote Natural History of the Earth (1749–1778).

Religious Outlooks
Some liberal theologians opposed religious “enthusiasm” or superstition. The secular idea of toleration arose, supported by French critic Pierre Bayle, author of Critical and Historical Dictionary (1697).

• Edict of Toleration proposed by Joseph II

• Start of deism

Theism vs Deism

Voltaire’s Candide explored theodicy—why evil exists if God is all-knowing and all-good.

Enlightened Despotism
Used mainly in the 18th century. Examples: Frederick II (1740-1786), Catherine II (1762-1796), Joseph II (1780-1790). Focused on education, toleration, and bureaucratization.

Catherine the Great

• Corresponded with philosophes like Voltaire and Diderot

• Supported Russia’s private printing press

• Restricted torture; somewhat tolerated Jews

• Expanded territory: Crimea, northern Black Sea, annexed Polish territory

Frederick the Great

• First servant of the state

• Invited Voltaire to live in his palace

• Supported scientific agriculture

• Abolished torture except for treason and murder

• Encouraged immigration of Huguenots and Jews

Joseph II

• Abolished serfdom and feudal dues

• Abolished forced labor (robot)

• Religious toleration for all Christians and Jews

• Reduced influence of the church

• Reformed judicial system; ended death penalty

The Philosophes

• Advocated intellectual freedom, opposed censorship, studied sociology and psychology

• Political liberty: Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws (1748) influenced American Constitution

• François-Marie Arouet (Voltaire): promoted Newtonian science, religious criticism

• Denis Diderot: Encyclopédie (1752–1772) compiled knowledge on science, technology, economics, civil rights

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau: emphasized morality, conscience, social contract, and natural education

Mock Debate: Locke vs Rousseau

Elite Culture

• Salons and freemason lodges fostered exchange of ideas

• French became the language of culture

• Travel, coffeehouses, booksellers, and newspapers proliferated

• Rococo art: light, carefree, playful; Jean Fragonard, Watteau, Boucher

• Neoclassical art: serious, Greek/Roman influence, emotion over beauty; Jacques-Louis David

Popular Culture

• Religious texts, almanacs, guides, tales, fables, satires

• Oral traditions on hunger, sex, oppression

• Education expansion: Hapsburg and Prussian reforms

• Literacy improved slowly

• Taverns and holidays catered to working-class traditions