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Treaty of Westphalia (+2)
The Treaty of Westphalia was the first signed treaty that settled religious conflicts in Europe and ended the Thirty Years’ War, giving limited rights to minority religions (like freedom to not convert based on your rulers’ religion) and taking power away from the Catholic Church. Finally! The Enlightened thinkers are overjoyed. This treaty allows for a freedom on individuality and strays from conformity, where powerful people are starting to use logical reason over opinion in government. -
Two Treatises on Civil Government (+3)
English Philosopher John Locke’s Two Treatises on Civil Government are the foundation of enlightened thinking, with an emphasis on putting governing into the hands of the legislative body and the concept of “natural rights”. He essentially planted the seeds of an early liberalism in the mind of Europe. Often called the “Father of the Enlightenment”, Locke’s contributions— which would later influence Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and most famously, Thomas Jefferson, deserve the spot of +3 -
Salem Witch Trials (-2)
I included the Witch Trials because it shows the total mania that can stem from the issues that Enlightened Thinkers address— like Voltaire, who discusses how religion’s focus on witches and magic is their own undoing. Puritans, who didn’t embrace Europe’s reform, show what could have happened on a much larger scale had Humanism and tolerance not been embraced.
It’s a -2 because it lacks an immediate connection to Enlightened thinkers, though packs the same punch as the Huguenot persecutions. -
The Death of Jean Calas (-3)
Jean Calas was one of many examples of Huguenot persecution in France following Louis XIV’s 1685 Edict of Fontainebleau, issued to reverse religious freedom and tolerance toward French Protestants in the late 1500s. Calas’ death holds the bottom spot because this era in France is a representation of everything Enlightened Thinkers are against: A lack of empathy to others, intolerance, and violence. With Huguenot persecution it seems just as Europe is taking one step forward, they take two back. -
Publication of the Autobiography of Olaudah Equiano (+1)
Olaudah Equiano’s autobiography is one of the first books with first-hand accounts of slavery. It walks the reader through his life as an enslaved person, and his writing is phenomenally horrifying. Equiano advocated for the abolition of slavery once he was freed, and spoke out against racism and legal discrimination. This is a +1 because his writings showed people first-hand the torture he and millions of others suffered, playing a crucial role in the goals of progression in English society.