POL 307 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Classical Liberalism, Age Of Enlightenment, Mercantilism

• School: University of Miami
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POL 307
• Professor: Sylvia Thompson

Document Summary

During the middle ages, an absolute monarchy ruled. The government controlled all economic matters (who can own land, who can run businesses, etc: government. Social structure was very clearly defined in these types of governments: king royalty clergy nobility gentry merchants artisans . Everyone was born in their rigid social category and fulfilled their role to keep society moving: very little mobility between the classes (one stayed in the social class in which they were born) This era is referred to as the intellectual revolution and the age of reason. People began to realize that science could be used to explain things that had previously seemed inexplicable and beyond human comprehension (i. e. only matters of god and nature) They realized that scientific results could have practical uses, such as in the creation of medicines, new technologies, etc. The more people believing in these ideas, the more confidence they had to figure out how something does and should work.