DBQ 6: Enlightenment Thinkers and Their Impact on European Rulers The Age of Enlightenment was a time where cultural and intellectual ideas from Western Europe brought reason, analysis, and individualism to the rest of Europe and replaced former traditional authority. The Age of Enlightenment was most frequently known as the Age of Reason because it reformed society from the authority of the church to a society of science and skepticism. The Enlightenment philosophy was promoted by local enlightenment thinkers that stressed liberty, freedom from the church’s authority, and worked to abolish serfdom. A number of the Enlightenment philosophers influenced society by publishing texts. New ideas and beliefs spread through Europe and worldwide and marked a change from only having religious texts to also providing intellectual texts.
Through imperialism, India and Japan were forced to Westernize. Westernization allowed the countries to advance in the world and become more level with European powers. For example, without the absolute rule of the British, India would not have prospered socially or economically. The British established a modern secondary education in English that resulted in the development of irrigation projects for agriculture, the world’s third largest railroad network, and large tea and jute plantations. A unified, powerful state was created in India by the British vanquishing kingdoms of the India and placing the same general system of laws amongst the Hindu and the Muslim peoples.
This essay plans to analyse and explain the extension of the franchise from 1830 and to asses whether Britain was fully democratic by 1918. Some historians believe that because of different anomalies in democracy such as plural votes and the power of the House of Lords made Britain fundamentally undemocratic even up to the 20th century, however other opinions are that Britain, having had changed so much, was almost fully democratic by this time. In order to judge how democratic Britain became, this essay will explain the changes in the different hallmarks of democracy and judge how democratic they became and will also analyse the vestiges of the past which held Britain back from achieving a full democratic system. Arguably, the most important trait of a democracy is the right to vote. Without this hallmark, ordinary people do not have a say in the way the country is run.
The Federalists were usually characterized as loose constructionists, which meant they focused more on the intent of the constitution and its framers, and believed that changes were necessary for the development of the nation. Although Republicans and Federalists were characterized as having these particular views towards the enactment of the Constitution, when Jefferson and Madison served as Presidents during the beginning of the 19th century from 1800 to 1817, it was proven that even though they seemed to believe in their own views, in reality when time came, they started changing their beliefs and becoming both strict and loose constructionists for the good of the nation, which was strongly advocated by Henry Clay and his American System. The same would occur for the Federalists, so generally, each side did not accurately characterize itself during the early 19th century and proved each side had its similar interest when interpreting the Constitution. Before Jefferson became President in 1800, The Federalists dominated national politics for the first decade of America’s governmental history because of George Washington and John Adams favoring Federalist views. It was not until the
According to the text, the first stage of the French Revolution was based totally on the liberty to succeed, own, and compete. Next, the second stage of the revolution took on equality to rally their troops, which was also the revolution of the working people in the French cities. In fact the French adapted a national motto for brotherhood which was Liberte’, elgalite, fraternite…which is French for Liberty, equality, and fraternity. The debates on the compatibility of the three terms as well as their order began at the same time of the French Revolution. France was known as what is called an absolute monarchy in which King Louis XVI had complete control over the nation.
Napoleon Bonaparte improved culture in France setting the foundation for change in Europe, creating Frances first structured set of laws, allowing freedom of religion in his empire, and finally breaking the boundary that divided the social classes. Le Code Napoleon brought revolutionary ideas to France and all of Europe. It brought rules and discipline to France: “The Code Napoleon is the French civil code… established under Napoleon 1 in 1804…” The Code gave post-revolutionary France its first coherent set of laws concerning property, colonial affairs, the family, and individual rights. It was the first modern legal code to be adopted with a pan-European scope. Strongly influencing the laws of many countries formed during and after the Napoleonic Wars.
experienced “a new birth of freedom” by finishing the “unfinished work” Lincoln urged Americans to dedicate themselves to in the Gettysburg Address. Lincoln set the tone for the rest of the nation, which was based on equality and freedom. I believe that during this time several factors influenced the American way and they rapidly set the tone for future progress toward freedom and equality. One of the main factors that played a huge role in transforming the U.S to a free nation has been the U.S constitution. After the civil war, the U.S entered into a new era, which called reconstruction.
Democracy, by definition, is inclusive. The goal of reform movements was to eliminate exclusiveness.This is ironic because, some reform acts only created more exclusiveness for the target group. The constitution states, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice.” However, what everyone was debating over between 1825 and 1850 is the question, what does justice mean and who deserves it? When figuring the validity of the statement, reform movements in the United States sought to expand democratic ideals, you have to take into account that each reform movement only expanded the democratic ideals for a very specific group. An example of this would be the Indian Removal Act of 1830.
America planned to change the society with the introduction of a new constitution and a shift of power that would turn Japan into a democratic society, similar to America and their constitution. On November 3rd, 1946, A new constitution for Japan was created by America, who currently had occupation of Japan. General Douglas MacArthur, supreme Commander of the allied powers, was appointed to be in control of the Japanese Government after occupation. MacArthur, through radical change along with the help of his military team created a new constitution that focused on democratic principles, that would rebuild Japanese society with a new government, rights for individuals and demilitarization. Before World War II, Japan was a dictatorship with an absolute monarchy under the rule of Hirohito, the sun God, the government was run by military force and suppressed any opposition.
NATIONALISM before 1848 II Between 1830 and 1848, the generation of Romanian intellectuals in Transylvania tried to transform the Romanian cultural community into a full-fledged political nation and, at the same time, to bring the Romanians into the brood currents of European economic and social life. During the two decades before the outbreak of the revolution of 1848 they provided the theoretical underpinnings of the modern Romanian national movement. They formulated the first comprehensive, truly national program. These intellectuals believe in a communion with Western European ideas without betraying native traditions. The avoided wholesale imitation preferring instead to shape borrowings and adopt inspirations to Transylvanian realities.