The Enlightenment was a movement created by the use of new scientific and political ideas in Europe. People began to use reason to create laws concerning things such as nature and behavior of humans. This reason was applied to other aspects of society such as education, the government and economics, and religion. The Enlightenment was also known as the Age of Reason and it reached its height in the mid-1700's.
In both England and France the major cause of the Enlightenment was the power of the government. Many people disliked the way the government was run in the countries of Europe. There were many changing political ideas. The old idea was that the king was sent by god to be a ruler, known as the divine right. A new idea then came about that the government should be ruled by the permission of what the governed people said, similar to our modern democracy. John Locke, Voltaire, Baron de Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau expressed the main views on government.
The Scientific Revolution was one cause of the movement because it caused people to change their views about everything. From nature to government they were urged to use a new method of reason to think about things. One of the most well known people that had to do with the Scientific Revolution was Isaac Newton. He used information from other scientists such as Copernicus and Galileo to come up with the laws of gravity and the use of the scientific method. .
John Locke believed, as most people did, that the people were capable of helping make the government decisions. John Locke was a philosopher who believed that did not have to constantly be in war but they could learn from their mistakes and improve themselves. He believed that people had the natural ability to rule themselves. He disliked the idea of absolute monarchy and favored the idea of self-government. To add to the controversy he also believed that the citizens had the right to overthrow the government if it does not give the citizens their three natural rights.
