AP World History: Enlightenment Crash Course

One of the most important, influential, and just interesting periods you will have to cover during your AP World History exam is the Enlightenment. What do you need to know to answer the questions related to this topic correctly? Who are the main philosophers who shaped the cornerstone ideas of the Enlightenment? Keep reading our crash course to better understand this important part of the AP World History exam. 

How to Do Well on AP World History 

Knowing about Enlightenment thinkers, political revolutions, and general facts isn’t enough to pass the AP World History exam. What else do you need? You should also have strong interpretation skills, such as the following:  

Source: The College Board

While all this might sound too much, it gets much easier once you do your AP prep practice tests. 

In addition to this, you can always review all the materials with a tutor to make sure that you are fully prepared for your exam.

Historical Developments in the Era of Enlightenment: Overview 

To give you an idea of what happened during the Enlightenment, let’s quickly overview the major trends. 

The Age of Enlightenment (aka the Age of Reason) was a crucial period in world history from the late 17th to the early 19th century. In many ways, the Enlightenment era started with Newton’s publication of the Principia in 1687. Why is that so? Newton’s work is often seen as the culmination of the Scientific Revolution, which made the way for the Enlightenment’s emphasis on science and reason.

Source: Britannica

The philosophical movement of the time presented numerous ideas that changed how people thought about the world and each other. They focused on using observation and evidence to improve human understanding of nature and people’s interaction while researching the role of religious beliefs and organized religion in society. 

A few Enlightenment thinkers came up with new political ideas, too: they talked about natural rights, the rights every person should have, and the agreement between people and their government. 

The Enlightenment ideas often triggered significant changes in governments. People started to question the old political order and sometimes even rebelled against their leaders. Enlightenment greatly contributed to early forms of nationalism, which is pride in one’s own country. As a result, this period influenced the development of national identities later on. 

It shaped how countries grew and how empires were built. If you think about it, many modern ideas in the Western world take their roots in the ideas of major Enlightenment thinkers. 

Enlightenment ideas and religious ideals influenced reform movements. These are expanded suffrage, early feminism, the abolition of slavery, and the end of serfdom. The ideas of Enlightenment philosophers are easy to observe in revolutionary documents: 

• The American Declaration of Independence during the American Revolution;
• The French “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen” during the French Revolution;
• Bolívar’s “Letter from Jamaica” on the eve of the Latin American revolutions. 

All of them impacted society and its resistant moods. Political power was questioned, which is one of the connections you can make with our days. Current constitutional democracies, with their emphasis on the secular rule of law and separation of power, are firmly rooted in Enlightenment ideals. 

Key Thinkers of the Enlightenment Era

The Enlightenment ideas were established by a number of thinkers. Let’s look at a few major figures:

Thomas Hobbes

Source: Britannica

A great deal of Thomas Hobbes’s work was dedicated to how societies function. He said people originally lived in a chaotic state where conflict was common, and it is in human nature to be like that. Consequently, they formed governments to keep things orderly. According to Hobbes, political authority should be strong to maintain peace, even if it means giving up individual freedom. 

John Locke

Source: History.com

John Locke had similar ideas and believed in natural rights – freedom and equality. Locke argued that if a government failed to protect these, people had the right to rebel against it. His view directly influenced the development of liberal democratic thought. Besides, Locke was the founding figure of Enlightenment educational thought. 

Baron de Montesquieu

Source: Wikipedia Commons

Montesquieu focused on preventing the abuse of power. He suggested dividing the government into different parts, each with its own zone of responsibility. This way, no single group could become too powerful and tyrannical, affecting human progress. Does it ring the bell? Yes, you’ve guessed – this idea of power separation influenced the structure of modern democratic governments.

Voltaire

Source: Adam Smith Institute

François-Marie Arouet (known as Voltaire) was a French writer, and like many Enlightenment thinkers, he was all about freedom. Voltaire fought for civil society to have the right to practice any religion they wanted, say whatever they believed (freedom of speech), and keep religion separate from the government. 

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Source: Wikipedia Commons

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was another French thinker who had big ideas about how societies should work. He said that governments should exist to serve everyone, not just the rich and powerful. This was his “Social Contract” theory. Rousseau believed that people were naturally equal and free and that the government should protect those natural rights. He was another crucial person who established the values of the Enlightenment. 

Adam Smith

Source: American Institute of Economic Research

Adam Smith was one of the main Scottish philosophers. He was a big fan of capitalism and free markets with their “invisible hand” (theory that highlights that people make decisions based on their self-interest). He believed that if everyone looked out for their own interests, it would benefit society as a whole. Smith’s economic ideas became the foundation of modern economics.

Thomas Paine

Source: World History Encyclopedia

Thomas Paine was one of the Enlightenment thinkers who played a key role in America’s fight for independence from Britain. He wrote influential pamphlets, like Common Sense, which argued passionately for the colonies to break free and begin a political revolution. 

Among other Enlightenment thinkers, you can pay attention to: 

• The Scottish philosopher and economist David Hume – his ideas affected not only the Scottish Enlightenment but the whole period, 
• The English philosopher Jeremy Bentham, 
• Immanuel Kant from Germany – many historians believe that his death marked the end of the Enlightenment period, 
• And the American statesman Thomas Jefferson. 

All of them were notable Enlightenment thinkers who impacted the way we think about human life, political theory, and religious belief today. Their questioning of traditional beliefs helped us develop a modern society and boost scientific progress. 

Indeed, they’ve changed the way humans live. But why are these Enlightenment thinkers relevant to your AP World History test? There’s a good chance you’ll encounter questions about their biographical facts or their ideas.

Here is an example of such a question: 

Major Enlightenment Ideas

Before taking the Enlightenment AP World History test, you should know the main worldview pillows of that period. Each historical time is defined by its main ideas that shape the intellectual and social landscape of the times. Let’s review the main Enlightenment ideas: 

Blank Slate 

One of the biggest enlightenment thinkers, John Locke, proposed the idea of a “tabula rasa,” a blank slate of the human mind at birth. This means we weren’t born with pre-determined destinies or knowledge bestowed by gods. Instead, our experiences and physical world shaped who we became.

This challenged the notion of a divinely ordained hierarchy, suggesting that everyone had the potential for greatness. At the same time, supposed innate qualities, such as goodness or original sin, were deemed nonexistent. 

Natural Rights Revolution

It might be the central concern of Enlightenment philosophy. Major figures argued that certain fundamental rights, like life, liberty, and property, weren’t gifts from rulers but inherent to human beings and essential for a good life. This idea challenged the absolute power of monarchs and birthed the concept of a government accountable to the people. 

The Social Contract 

The Enlightenment fostered the idea of a social contract – an unspoken agreement where a human being gives up some freedoms in exchange for the benefits and security of a well-functioning society. This implied that the government derived its power from the consent of the governed, not divine right. If the government failed to uphold its end of the bargain, the people had the right to change or overthrow it. 

Religious Tolerance 

The Enlightenment promoted religious tolerance, advocating for freedom of conscience and separation of church and state. This challenged the dominance of the church in European society. 

The Geography of the Enlightenment

The Enlightenment movement took place in Europe during the late 17th and 18th centuries. But its influence spread globally. Historians have different opinions concerning the exact start and end date of this period. Still, many believe the Enlightenment exploded between the Glorious Revolution in England in 1688 and the French Revolution of 1789.

France played a huge role in the Enlightenment’s development. During the 1700s, some French writers started criticizing French society, culture, and government. France was an absolute monarchy where the king had all the power, and people couldn’t question his decisions. 

There was a belief that kings were chosen by God, which might sound strange to people today, but back then, it was the norm. So, disobeying a king was almost like disobeying God. Prominent Enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire, Montesquieu, Condorcet, and Diderot used logic, reason, sarcasm, and wit to show that this belief was silly. They also questioned other ideas widely accepted in Europe. 

The Enlightenment flourished in intellectual hubs like Paris, London, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, and Berlin. These cities provided spaces for thinkers, writers, and scientists to gather, exchange ideas, and publish their works.  

Making Connections: The Impact of the Enlightenment

As we mentioned earlier, it is not enough to know the mere facts; you have to use careful observation to make connections between the late Middle Ages and the future. Here are some key concepts you should know for the Enlightenment AP Modern History exam:

1. Shifting authority. The Late Middle Ages saw a decline in the absolute power of the Catholic Church and the rise of secular monarchs. This created a space for questioning traditional authority and paved the way for the Enlightenment’s emphasis on reason and individual liberty. In fact, the intellectual movement of this period was almost entirely built on human reason. 
2. Scientific revolution. The Scientific Revolution (15th-17th centuries) challenged the dominance of religious dogma in explaining the natural world. The scientific curiosity and emphasis on observation aligned with the Enlightenment’s focus on reason and empirical evidence.
3. Global exploration. The Age of Exploration (15th – 18th century) exposed Europeans to new cultures and societies. This challenged Eurocentrism and fed into Enlightenment ideas about human diversity and progress.
4. Impact on non-Western societies. Enlightenment ideas influenced some non-Western major figures who sought to modernize their societies and political order. However, there was also resistance to Western ideas, and Enlightenment thought often didn’t account for the specific contexts of non-European societies. 

Conclusion 

It’s hard to measure a real Enlightenment’s impact. Its ideas influenced revolutions, political reforms, and scientific advancements, leaving a lasting mark on Western civilization. This period shaped our concepts of democracy, human rights, and the pursuit of knowledge. 

The Enlightenment gave us a framework for challenging traditional authority and critically examining the world around us. So, even if you aren’t taking the AP World History exam, it is still an interesting period of history to discover.