Don’t Enlighten Me Until I’ve Had My Coffee | Modern World History 17 of 30 | Study Hall
Summary
TLDRThis video script explores the Age of Enlightenment, highlighting how 18th-century European merchants and intellectuals, influenced by the Scientific Revolution, sought to reshape society through reason. It discusses the philosophes' challenge to traditional religious and political authority, advocating for a government that serves its people, epitomized by the Social Contract theory. The script also touches on the role of coffeehouses as hubs for intellectual exchange, and the paradoxical impact of Enlightenment ideas, which both advanced societal progress and fueled colonialism and cultural superiority.
Takeaways
- 📚 The script introduces Study Hall courses for earning college credits and discusses the hardships of an 18th-century European merchant, including heavy taxation and the need to preserve profits.
- 💡 The idea that government should serve the people and not just tax them was revolutionary and spread rapidly, leading to the Age of Enlightenment.
- 🌍 The Enlightenment began in the late 17th century, influenced by the Little Ice Age's impact on society and the desire for social change.
- 🏛 Religion and government were closely intertwined, with rulers often using religious institutions to validate their power and vice versa.
- 🤔 The philosophes, secular intellectuals, sought to use reason and logic to improve society, challenging traditional religious authority and practices.
- 🚀 The Enlightenment was also known as the Age of Reason, emphasizing the use of reason over blind faith and superstition.
- 🛕 Deism became a popular belief among Enlightenment thinkers, positing that God created the universe but does not intervene in human affairs.
- 🏛️ The concept of the Social Contract, introduced by John Locke, suggested a mutual agreement between the government and the governed, with citizens giving up some freedoms for protection in return.
- ☕ The rise of coffeehouses in Europe provided a public space for the exchange of ideas, contributing to the spread of Enlightenment thought.
- 👥 Coffeehouses were a place where class boundaries were less strict, allowing for more open discussions among different social groups, although still limited to men of certain classes.
- 🌐 The Enlightenment's emphasis on reason and social contract influenced the formation of modern governments, including the US Constitution.
- 🏴☠️ However, the Enlightenment also contributed to a sense of European superiority, leading to colonialism and imperialism, with devastating effects on other cultures.
Q & A
What was the primary occupation of an 18th-century European merchant?
-The primary occupation of an 18th-century European merchant was selling goods in their city.
How did the government's taxation system affect merchants during tax time?
-The government's taxation system was likened to a 'smash-and-grab' on merchants' piggy banks, implying that taxes were burdensome and left them with little profit.
What was the revolutionary idea that emerged about government's role in society?
-The revolutionary idea was that the government should actually serve the people who pay the taxes to keep it running, rather than just taking from them.
What era did the new ideas about government's social responsibility lead to Europe entering?
-These ideas led Europe into the Age of Enlightenment, an era that began in the late 17th century and lasted about 130 years.
What was the impact of the Little Ice Age on European society?
-The Little Ice Age led to poverty, disease, and war, causing great distress and desperation among the people.
How did the intertwining of religion and government affect the rulers of the time?
-The intertwining of religion and government helped validate a ruler's divine right to govern and their right to expand their empire's borders, creating a mutually beneficial relationship.
Who were the secular intellectuals that sought to influence royal policies for social change?
-The secular intellectuals were known as philosophes in French, who were inspired by the Scientific Revolution and believed in using reason to improve society.
What was the philosophes' view on the role of reason in society?
-The philosophes believed that reason was the key to understanding and improving the world, not just relying on the Bible or church leaders' interpretations.
What was the Enlightenment movement's stance on the Church's influence on society and politics?
-The Enlightenment movement believed that the Church had too much social and political influence and that it should be reduced.
What concept did Enlightenment thinkers develop regarding the relationship between governments and citizens?
-They developed the concept of the Social Contract, which was a pact between rulers and society where governments provided benefits to citizens in exchange for some control over their lives.
How did the coffeehouse culture contribute to the spread of Enlightenment ideas?
-Coffeehouses became public meeting points where people could share ideas freely, allowing Enlightenment ideas to spread and different perspectives to be exchanged.
What was the unintended consequence of the Enlightenment movement's emphasis on reason?
-The unintended consequence was the development of a mindset of European superiority, which led to colonialism, imperial domination, and new forms of racism.
Outlines
🏛️ The Struggles of 18th-Century European Merchants and the Dawn of Enlightenment
This paragraph introduces the difficulties faced by 18th-century European merchants, who were heavily taxed and had to strategize to retain their profits. It then transitions into the emergence of new ideas about government's role in serving the people, leading to the Age of Enlightenment. The Enlightenment, spanning about 130 years from the late 17th century, was a period that transitioned Europe from the Middle Ages into a new era of thought on government and society. The narrator, Rob Fuller, sets the stage for the historical context and introduces the video's focus on Modern World History.
🌌 The Impact of the Little Ice Age and the Rise of the Enlightenment
The paragraph discusses the challenges Europe faced during the Little Ice Age, which led to poverty, disease, and war. It highlights how people turned to religion for answers, and how this influenced the intertwining of religion and government, with rulers using the Church to validate their divine right to govern. The paragraph then introduces the philosophes, secular intellectuals who sought social change through reason, inspired by the Scientific Revolution. They believed in using logic and reason to improve society, challenging traditional biblical interpretations and advocating for a government that serves the people.
☕️ The Birth of Coffeehouses and the Spread of Enlightenment Ideas
This section delves into how the Enlightenment led to the creation of the first European coffeehouses, inspired by the Ottoman Empire. Coffeehouses became public meeting points where people could exchange ideas freely, challenging class boundaries and hierarchies. They played a crucial role in spreading Enlightenment ideas, such as the Social Contract, which proposed a mutual agreement between rulers and citizens. The paragraph also touches on the global trade routes that made coffeehouses possible, the products they sold, and the labor behind them, including the exploitation of enslaved people.
🗽 The Social Contract and the Influence of Coffeehouses on Society
The paragraph focuses on the concept of the Social Contract, as proposed by John Locke, which emphasized a mutual agreement between governments and citizens. It discusses how coffeehouses served as platforms for the exchange of ideas about the news, scientific discoveries, and politics, fostering a sense of community and shared intellectual pursuit. Despite attempts by rulers like King Charles II to ban coffeehouses due to their potential as hubs for political dissent, these spaces persisted, reflecting the growing influence of Enlightenment thought and the importance of public opinion.
🌍 The Enlightenment's Legacy: Progress and the Seeds of Colonialism
The final paragraph reflects on the lasting impact of Enlightenment ideas, which shaped future governments and societal structures. It also acknowledges the darker side of the Enlightenment, where the belief in European superiority led to colonialism, imperialism, and racism. The paragraph concludes by connecting the historical developments of the Enlightenment to modern-day practices, such as voting and paying taxes, and the continued influence of coffeehouses as social spaces.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Study Hall
💡Age of Enlightenment
💡Social Contract
💡Deism
💡Philosophes
💡Reason
💡Coffeehouses
💡Colonialism
💡Divine Right
💡Revolution
💡Public Sphere
Highlights
Study Hall courses offer college credits, accessible through gostudyhall.com.
18th-century European merchants faced heavy taxation impacting their profits.
The idea of a government serving the people evolved during the Enlightenment.
The Enlightenment era began in the late 17th century, influencing government and society.
The Little Ice Age led to widespread poverty, disease, and war in Europe.
Religion's deep integration into daily life influenced European governments.
The philosophes, secular intellectuals, aimed to create social change through reason.
The Enlightenment valued reason over tradition and religious interpretation.
Deism, the belief in a non-interventionist God, was a significant shift from traditional doctrines.
The Social Contract theory proposed a mutual agreement between governments and citizens.
Coffeehouses emerged as public spheres for the exchange of ideas during the Enlightenment.
European coffeehouses were influenced by the Ottoman Empire and global trade.
Coffeehouses broke social class boundaries, allowing for open discussion of ideas.
The spread of Enlightenment ideas was met with resistance from authorities fearing change.
Enlightenment thought contributed to the development of modern democratic governments.
The Enlightenment also fueled European colonialism and ideas of cultural superiority.
Enlightenment ideas have had a lasting impact on global governance and societal structures.
Transcripts
To learn more about earning college credits with Study Hall courses,
go to gostudyhall.com or click the link in the description.
Life as an 18th-century European merchant wasn't easy. You’d spend most of your time
selling goods in your city, but when tax time came around… it was like the government pulled
a smash-and-grab on your piggy bank. So, when you weren’t working to make sales,
you were working to figure out how to keep enough of your profits to live.
But then people started floating some new ideas about the government:
like maybe it should actually serve the people paying the taxes to keep it running.
And that sounded pretty darn good! This revolutionary idea spread,
and spread fast, and before you know it, the idea of government for the people,
by the people had gone the ye olde version of viral.
These new ideas about a government’s social responsibility to its people
ultimately took Europe out of the Middle Ages and into the Age of Enlightenment:
an era of about 130 years beginning in the late 17th century, bringing about ideas that
would shape thought about government and society for centuries to come.
Hi, I’m Rob Fuller, and this is Study Hall: Modern World History.
Before the late 17th century, things in Europe were… well, a little dark.
Europe had been struggling for years thanks to the Little Ice Age,
which was a period of global cooling that started
in the 14th century and wreaked havoc on European society. It led to poverty,
disease, and war. And when disaster struck, people were desperate for an explanation why.
Many people turned to religion. And this had a major effect on governments.
Because religion was so deeply interwoven into daily life, empires had to build strong
alliances with religious institutions. But it’s not like this was a real sacrifice
for them. The power of the Church helped to validate a ruler’s divine right to govern,
and their right to expand their empire’s borders. Which was a pretty cushy deal. I mean,
seriously, get a look at this throne right here.
And in return, political rulers were also expected to support the power of the Church. There was no
Thomas Jefferson yet to, you know, hint hint, nudge nudge, separate that church and state.
Like you’d expect, this strategy worked pretty well for Europe’s rich and powerful.
They had a lot to gain. But this didn’t work so well for a group of secular intellectuals,
called philosophes in French, who wanted to create real social change by influencing royal policies.
The philosophes were inspired by the recent Scientific Revolution — specifically,
the idea that the logic and reason people used
to make scientific discoveries could also make society better.
The big idea is that philosophes believed reason was the key to understanding and improving the
world around us, not just the Bible… or church leaders’ interpretation of it.
By contrast, up until this point, most early modern Europeans were
all about biblical tradition. They valued the practices they’d inherited from their elders,
and their elders, and their elders, and so on.
So, these Enlightenment thinkers were really charting their own path. They
wanted to throw out social practices that were useless, or downright harmful — no matter
how long they’d been around. And they were especially critical of unquestioning faith,
institutionalized religion, and superstition, which they
believed were creating a barrier between the people of Europe and positive social change.
In fact, reason became so important during this
period that the Enlightenment movement earned a nickname: The Age of Reason.
From the start, the Enlightenment movement
thought the Church had too much social and political influence.
For instance, Christian religious groups used their beliefs and teachings, known as doctrines,
to get folks to stay in their lane. Like, if God said the world was great the way it was, you were
in the wrong then if you thought otherwise. And if God said you should give money to the church,
or support the monarch of your particular empire, well, you had to do that too.
But Enlightenment thinkers just weren’t buying it. In fact, many turned away from doctrines,
toward deism: the belief that God created an orderly universe for humans to inhabit
and live in as they chose, without additional divine intervention.
For example, when an earthquake devastated Portugal in 1755,
the Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire said that, rather than being an act of
God meant to punish, disasters like this happen without divine reasoning.
For these deists, the question wasn’t reason versus religion,
but how reason could be used to support religion, and vice versa. And perhaps
there wasn’t a whole lot reasonable about supporting the religious and governmental
systems that leave you and your merchant neighbors struggling to make ends meet.
Ultimately, deists wanted these powerful religious institutions to adopt practices that helped people
find freedom through rational thought, rather than just taking orders from God via the Church.
Enlightenment thinkers also believed that governments themselves were tyrannical.
Absolute monarchies like in Austria and France, gave the king total power over… well,
everything. And these kings aimed to consolidate their power even
more to build themselves up, at the expense of their citizens.
Enlightenment thinkers wanted to change that. They believed governments should
create policies that benefited society as a whole, and not just the king.
This concept in particular became known as the Social Contract, and it went on to inspire tons of
future governments, including the US Constitution. According to British philosopher John Locke,
a social contract is a pact between the rulers and society, or the people over whom they rule.
In this contract, governments provide benefits to their citizens, like protecting the country
from invasion. And in exchange, people gave the state some control over their lives in the
form of things like laws… and taxes. Because hey: Those anti-invader armies had to get paid somehow.
Now, for this give-and-take to work, everyone has to be on the same page. If the social
contract went according to plan, everyone would agree on the government’s responsibilities,
and what the people owed them in return. But if the government didn’t meet its
end of the bargain, the people had the right to instate a new ruler who would.
Which, as time eventually showed, would probably involve busting out pitchforks…
or a guillotine. Not yet, France! We’ll get to you pretty soon, I promise!
Here’s the thing about all these new ideas, though: For anything to catch on,
people had to hear what these Enlightenment thinkers were… well, thinking. And it turns out,
there was no better place to do that than Ye Old Starbucks.
I’ll take a Venti black coffee for Bartholomew! Free trade and plague free, I trust.
Seriously, though. In addition to, like, the birth of modern government,
the Enlightenment led to the creation of the first European coffeehouse — an idea
they nabbed from the Ottoman Empire, where the first coffeehouse opened in Istanbul in 1555.
The rise of the European coffeehouse was made possible by the vast global trade
routes established in the previous centuries. The products sold in these cafes were traditional food
and drink from all over the world, brought back to Europe via their colonial footprint on the rest
of the globe. Like coffee from Africa, chocolate from the Americas, and tea from China and India.
And if you pull back the curtain even farther, these super-cheap goods were also made possible
by the labor of countless enslaved people — especially when it came to coffee and sugar.
These coffeehouses became crucial public meeting points for European society. Before this point,
there just weren’t many public spaces where people could share ideas. I mean,
sure, there were pubs, but their beverages weren’t the best for
the clear-headed exchanges of ideas if you know what I mean.
But at a coffeehouse, you could get your fix of caffeine while also rubbing elbows
with people you might never meet otherwise. And, it turns out that these cafes aren’t
just a place to mooch free wifi and pretend to write your dissertation.
In 17th and 18th century Europe, you couldn’t get a lavender oat milk latte at one of these places,
but you could exchange ideas about the news, scientific discoveries, and politics
with other savvy thinkers without worrying about breaking the rules of polite society.
See, 18th-century Europe was still full of class boundaries and hierarchies,
even among the educated elites. But in most coffeehouses, those rules didn’t apply so
strictly because what happens in coffeehouses, stays in coffeehouses. Coffeehouses were the
first public sphere in Europe where anyone could come to share their ideas or critiques.
“Anyone”, that is… as long as they were still men of upper-middle class status or
higher– the working class was stuck at home with their Keurigs. And like other public
spaces at this time, women weren’t allowed. While there were notable intellectuals of
color who hung with the coffee shop crowd, including German thinker Anton Wilhelm Amo,
by and large the scene still looked an awful lot like a Connecticut country club.
Nonetheless, these public spheres allowed Enlightenment ideas about
society to spread. They let people with different perspectives share ideas and solve
problems together. Which was great for freedom of expression, but made rulers pretty nervous.
For instance, back when the first coffeehouses were popping up in the Ottoman Empire,
Sultan Murad IV believed they’d become a safe haven for opponents to the crown. So he did
what any imperial ruler would do: He made coffee-drinking a capital offense. which,
if that were still in effect, I would totally be the most wanted man in the world.
And once coffeehouses spread throughout Europe in the 1650s, King Charles II of
England tried to ban them, too. His dad, King Charles I, was decapitated for treason during
the English Civil War, so he knew what could happen when people started talking politics.
Of course, this went about as well as you’d think. People weren’t giving up their beloved
caffeine– or their new public sphere for the epiphanies they found there. Like,
where else could they learn about science while Isaac Newton dissected a dolphin?
Which is something that actually happened… and which maybe makes the
chit-chats and study sessions at today’s coffee shops seem a little lame. Though I
bet the Health Department might have a few things to say about dolphin dissections.
In any case, Charles II’s ban led to widespread protests,
and this angry mob had both strength in numbers and caffeine… so, like,
basically unstoppable. Coffeeshop owners sent representatives to plead their case. And,
in the end, the King lifted the ban just two days before it was set to go
into effect. Some even suspect the King was even influenced by his own ministers’ love of coffee.
Now, to be fair, it’s not like these monarchs had nothing to worry about. Besides being a place to
exchange new and interesting ideas, coffeehouses showed people that their opinions mattered and
could even have weight. And ideas like the social contract really started to catch on.
People started to think that, hey,
maybe governments should serve everyone after all. And if they didn’t… well,
that implicit threat of revolution began pushing empires to listen to the people.
Enlightenment ideas like the social contract were contagious, and the Age of Reason took
Europe by storm. But all this hoopla went to Europeans’ heads, and they started to believe
that their emphasis on reason meant they were the most enlightened people in the entire world
and that their culture was superior to all other cultures. Which is…not very reasonable.
They even started to look at other empires across the globe as templates for how not
to govern…and then increasingly swooped in to take over these
lands for themselves. For “the good of the people,” of course. And, okay,
also because more land meant more money, power, resources, and global domination.
So while the Enlightenment movement showed how reason could improve society,
it also fed into the mindset of European superiority that enabled centuries of
colonialism, imperial domination, and devastating new forms of racism.
But for good and for bad, these Enlightenment ideas were here to stay,
and went on to shape governments for centuries to come. So the next time you vote, pay taxes,
or hit up your corner cafe for a matcha latte, you’ve got these Enlightenment philosophes,
as well as centuries of global connection, trade, and discourse, to thank for those things.
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