The Neo-Classical Era:

Reason and Revolution

Stephenson

Newton

• Born the year Galileo

died

• Gravity

• Laws of Motion

• Calculus

If I have been

able to see

further, it was only

because I stood

on the shoulders

of giants.

John LockeGovernment

'The great and chief end, therefore, of men's uniting into commonwealths, and putting themselves under government, is the preservation of their property.'

The social contract: 'men when they enter into society give up ... liberty of a kind; yet it being only with an intention in every one the better to preserve himself, his liberty and property,'

• Tabula Rasa"No man's knowledge

here can go beyond his experience."

1688: “Glorious Revolution”

• No bloodshed

• One king fired

• William and Mary

“hired” as co-

monarchs.

• British Bill of

Rights

• John Locke

Death of Louis XIV

• Died September 1,

1715 (after 72 year

reign)

• Succeeded by Great-

Grandson Louis XV

Louis XV: 50+ more years of royal

frivolity

North America at war’s end

Postwar problems for American

Colonists

• Royal budget shortfalls

• Navigation Acts enforcement

• Freeze on western territorial expansion

• The Stamp Act, and beyond.

Postwar problems for American

Colonists

• Royal budget shortfalls

• Navigation Acts enforcement

• Freeze on western territorial expansion

• The Stamp Act, and beyond.

The American Revolution

• Locke’s Natural Law

• British political freedom

• The start of a long process

Governor’s Mansion Williamsburg, VA

Independence Hall Philadelphia, PA

La Maison Carée

Thomas Jefferson: Virginia Capitol

Thomas Jefferson: Virginia Capitol

Christopher Wren, College of

William and Mary

Thomas Jefferson,

University of

Virginia

Pantheon, Rome

Pantheon, Rome

Rotunda, Charlottesville

Rotunda, Charlottesville

Chowan County Courthouse North

Carolina

Supreme Court Washington, DC

Bulfinch,

Massachusetts

Capitol

French Revolution

• A “complete”

revolution – total

rejection of status quo

• Reason turns to terror

and tyranny

• Napoleon brings a

new order

David, Oath of the Horatii

David, Oath of the Tennis Court

David, Oath of the Tennis Court

David, Oath of the Tennis Court

David, Oath of the Tennis Court