The impacts of the Enlightenment on the European Society

The impacts of the Enlightenment on the European Society The Enlightenment is also referred to as the Age of Reason. These names describe the period in America and Europe in the 1700s. During this period, man was emerging from the ignorance centuries into one that was characterized by respect for humanity, science, and reason. The people involved in Enlightenment had the belief that human reason was useful in discovering the universe’s natural laws, determining mankind’s natural rights, and thereby, unending knowledge progress, moral values, and technical achievement would be attained. John Locke and Isaac Newton are some of the people who played a great role during the Enlightenment period (Wuthnow 41). This paper aims at discussing the political, cultural, religious, intellectual, and economic impacts that were realized during the period. Political impacts During the 1700s, wars were mainly fought within nations and majorly over throne succession as opposed to between countries. Moreover, Monarchy ruled in the 1700s although it had less security compared to the previous periods. In 1642, the English king was executed while France executed their queen and king in 1794 and 1793 respectively as the French Revolution was ongoing. Other European monarchies fell gradually. Royal instability was an indication of social order insecurity that had been used in ruling aristocracies (Outram 58). Liberalism and Conservatism are some of the political systems that developed duringShow MoreRelatedA Great Period Of Time1528 Words   |  7 Pagesfollowed Christian tradition. â€Å"Prior to the Enlightenment, believing in God in the West was like believing in the sunrise; the answer to all the big questions of life was God† (Wade). During this time many things revolved around the bible, as did the government since the bible was the main source of knowledge. 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