The Enlightenment

In the period known as The Enlightenment, Eighteenth century Europe saw remarkable cultural changes characterized by a loss of faith in traditional religious and political sources of authority and a turn toward democracy, human rights, and science.

The upheavals of the Enlightenment led directly to the American Revolutionary War and the French Revolution and significantly influenced the Industrial Revolution.

Some of the most important figures of the Enlightenment are:

• Denis Diderot
• David Hume
• Thomas Jefferson
• John Locke
• Montesquieu
• Isaac Newton
• Voltaire

See also French materialism.