BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

         This section deals the development of modern political thought.  The ideals of the Ancient Greeks studied in the last sections and the ideals of Roman Law have had a lot of influence in modern politics and the development of government as we know it in America.  This Learning Period began with the first humans beginning to live in communities and groups.  As man developed and became more advanced, more formal types of government structures began to be developed.  Most were tyrannies, or monarchies.  Either way, ordinary people had little say or protection from those who were in charge.  During the time period that you will read about below known as the, Enlightenment, ideals for a better way to see government arose.  People began to see that humans had certain rights.  These were called "natural rights."  These natural rights consisted of things such as liberty and the right to not be ruled unjustly or without freedom.  These were not new ideas, the Greeks had discussed similar ideals centuries before.  But the modern discussion of these ideas was about to ROCK the world.  This section discusses the ideas and the men behind the ideas of freedom and liberty in politics.  It will set the stage for the next Learning Period where we discuss these ideas in action.  The result of people hearing and believing in the ideas below will bring about wars and revolution!  We have done a lot of ground-laying work to get to this point, and from after this section ... you are in for a WILD ride!

Scientific Revolution
           "The Renaissance, the Reformation, the discovery of new lands -- all these events opened European minds to new ways of thinking, and this included the first real science. Galileo of Italy used a telescope to observe the heavens and prove the Earth was not the center of the universe. (The Catholic Church locked him up.) Isaac Newton of England discovered the principle of gravity while sitting under an apple tree; he concluded that all objects in the universe obey the same laws of motion.
           A Dutch shopkeeper and amateur scientist, Anton von Leeuwenhoek (LAY-vun-hook), built an early microscope and was struck with "wonder at a thousand living creatures in one drop of water." This new world of tiny organisms challenged the accepted theory of spontaneous generation, a theory that proposed small creatures such as insects spring to life from rocks or air. Leeuwenhoek suspected eggs.
           These and other discoveries amounted to a leap in scientific knowledge in the 1600s that came to be called the Scientific Revolution. Printed books spread this new scientific knowledge along with the revolutionary idea that the workings of the universe could be explained by natural causes.

            "Old ideas like serfdom and absolute monarchy were considered leftovers from the outdated Ancient Regime (old regime, old system). Many educated people rejected traditional religion, becoming Deists who believed in God and morality but did not accept church authority, church rituals, or beliefs that disagreed with science. These ideas about reason, freedom, and equality are called the Enlightenment.

Adam Smith
           Enlightenment thinking wasn't limited to politics; it extended to other areas of society such as economics and women's rights. 1n 1776, Scottish philosopher Adam Smith published an influential book called The Wealth of Nations; it is considered the first full explanation of the capitalist economic system. Smith said rulers should stop trying to control their nations' economies. Economies would work best, he said, if they were left alone to control themselves through the "invisible hand" of competition in a free market. Smith's belief came to be known as laissez faire (LES-ay-fair), French for "leave it alone."
            English writer Mary Wollstonecraft believed Enlightenment ideas about equality should apply to women as well as men. Her book, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, proposed that educational systems be reformed to give girls the same education as boys. Her controversial ideas had little immediate effect, but they became a foundation for the women's movement that would arise in the next century" (www.studentsfriend.com).
 

Reading Selections

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