Topic I presents an introduction to the origins of modern thought and modern political life. We begin with the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century and the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century, and then examine the American and French Revolutions, the two late eighteenth-century events that mark the beginning of modern ideas about politics and society. Taken together, these topics introduce us to ways of thinking and acting characteristic of "modernity." What are the differences between "modern" and "pre-modern" societies? How do these documents illustrate modern modes of thought?

Topic I is divided into these sections:
 

 On Crimes and Punishments (Document 1-2). During the height of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794) published this profoundly influential book in 1764. The Enlightenment era built upon the achievements of scientists like Galileo and, especially, of Isaac Newton (1642-1727), inventor of calculus and discoverer of the laws of modern physics. These natural philosophers had shown how powerful human reason could be in comprehending the natural world. In the Enlightenment era that followed writers on politics and social questions tried to extend the reach of human reason. Enlightened writers asked the question: if human reason can reveal the laws that govern nature, why can't we also use our reason to discover laws that govern ourselves and our societies? In an age when torture of the criminally accused was a common practice, Beccaria's book asked this question of the legal system. Can you recognize a form of modern thinking in his arguments? How does this document help to illustrate the goals of the Enlightenment?

The American Revolution created a democratic republic in the former colonies of British North America. The revolutionary leaders were deeply influenced by Enlightenment thought, especially by Locke's political theory. In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson amended Locke's right to property into "the pursuit of happiness." In the Constitution and Bill of Rights (1787-1791), the new nation defined its legal and political framework through enduring principles of liberty and self-government. But an equally enduring dilemma clouded its founding era. Jefferson, who wrote in the Declaration that "all men are created equal," was a slaveholder, like many other landowners in Virginia. This fundamental contradiction shows us how the abomination of slavery and racism lay at the center of American history from its beginnings. This excerpt from Jefferson's Notes on the State of Virginia (1785) (Document 1-5) shows with remarkable clarity how racist ideas affected Jefferson's thinking. Slavery in the revolutionary era was not confined to southern states either. It took several decades--into the 1820s in fact--before slavery in northern states like New York or Massachusetts was completely eliminated. In 1774, a church congregation of African-Americans issued this Slaves' Appeal (Document 1-6) to the governor of colonial Massachusetts. It sounds an eloquent cry for freedom made by people who clearly understood the promise of the era they lived in and demanded that it apply to them no less than to whites.

Few people were neutral about the French Revolution. For some, the Revolution at first seemed like the dawn of a new age, the promise of a new and better society. Others were horrified at the "world turned upside down," with kings and aristocrats overthrown, religion banished (as the French did during Jacobin rule), and new ideas of equality being openly discussed and (sometimes) put into practice. Many contemporaries were at first inspired and later disappointed by events in Paris. Writing in 1805, the English poet William Wordsworth remembered the early years of the revolution this way:  "Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, but to be young was very heaven." (The complete poem was called "French Revolution as it appeared to Enthusiasts at its Commencement" [Document 1-11].) The German composer Ludwig van Beethoven, at first a supporter of Napoleon, angrily crossed out the dedication to Napoleon at the top of his Third Symphony and renamed it "Eroica" (heroic) when Napoleon named himself Emperor in 1804. In 1790, the first important political response to the French Revolution was published by Edmund Burke (pictured below), an Irishman who played a major role in British

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Like most historical periods, the Enlightenment can be studied through the work of artists. This on-line exhibition of Enlightenment era painting called Art and the Enlightenment (Document 1-14) will deepen your understanding of the era and introduce some of its best-known art. Examine this web site before completing the following exercise. 

Having studied the Enlightenment and the late eighteenth-century revolutions, and having examined the on-line exhibition on Enlightenment-era art, now look at Jacques-Louis David's 1787 painting, The Death of Socrates (Document 1-15). Describe David's style. Is it simple? Complex? Emotional? Rational? Describe the painting's content. What seems to be happening? What kind of reaction does David want us to have about this picture? (It will definitely help to do a little background reading about Socrates. Answering the questions below the painting will also help with this exercise.) How does the painting illustrate its time and place--the French Enlightenment just before the French Revolution began? Use any of the sources you've read--either from the web or from your reader and/or textbook--to describe the connections between this visual source and its historical context.