The Age of Enlightenment & Individual Freedoms

A woman should not do a mans job, is a belief that was practiced before the age of

enlightenment. In England, wives stayed at home with the kids, while husbands went to work to

support the family. Only boys were educated. Thanks to Mary Wollstonecraft, the social role of

women changed. The age of enlightenment also changed peoples views on government,

religion, and the economy thanks to john Locke, Voltaire, and Adam Smith.

John Locke was an Englishman who lived through the English civil war and the Glorious

Revolution and was in favor of a democratic government. His support of democracy is evident in

the following quotes, When the government is dissolved, the people are at liberty to provide for

themselves, but erecting a new legislative.. and ..they (the people) have not only a right to get

out of a failed government, but to prevent it. In short, the people should have the freedom to

govern themselves which is the spirit of democracy. Another enlightenment age philosophe that

supported individual rights went by his pen name, Voltaire.

Voltaire was born a Frenchman with the name Francois-Marie Arouet in 1694. He wrote

many pieces of literature Including one in Letters Concerning the English Nation that entailed

his support of religious tolerance. If one religion only were allowed in England, the government

would very possibly become arbitrary; if there were but two, then people would cut one

anothers throats; but as there are such a multitude, they all live happily and in peace. Put

simply, allowing for multiple religious among a nation, in turn ,allows for peace and

understanding. As Voltaire supported individual religious decisions, the next enlightenment age

philosophe supported individual economic decisions.

 Adam Smith was opposed to the common economic system of that time, mercantilism.

Mercantilism goal was to benefit the country and make the government rich and did not allow for

people to make their own economic decisions. The following quote displays his support of

capitalism: He neither intends to promote the public interest nor knows how much he is

promoting it. He intends only his own gain, and he is in this led by an invisible hand to promote

an end which was no part of his intention. This quote expresses Smiths belief that when the

people seek to benefit themselves economically, they are supporting and benefitting society. The

final philosophe to be discussed in this essay believed in supporting society by not holding back

half of the population.

Mary Wollstonecraft was a British author who wrote A Vindication to the Rights of

Woman in 1792. Back then, women were discouraged from pursuing education and instead were

expected to stay home and take care of the kids. Wollstonecraft was a feminist as evident in the

following quote: To render mankind more virtuous, and happier, of course, both sexes must act

from the same principle;... women must be allowed to fund their virtue on knowledge, which is

scarcely possible unless they be educated by the same pursuits as men. Wollstonecraft

expressed her belief that if women were educated equally to men in this passage then society as a

whole would be more prosperous and happy.

Thanks to Mary Wollstonecraft, John Locke, Voltaire, and Adam Smith, people's views

on the social role of women, government, religion, and the economy. They spread the ideas of

womens rights, democracy, religious tolerance, and capitalism or a free market economy.

Without these influential individuals, we would live in a world dominated by communist men

and forced to live by a common religion.