HIST104 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: John Woolman, William Wilberforce, Atlantic Slave Trade
Document Summary
18th century was a time of transition in many ways. Many people in europe developed a powerful interest in the idea of liberty. Expressed as an intellectual movement called the enlightenment. Important rallying cry - inspiring revolutions (american, french) Towards the end of the 18th century, people began to question the institution of slavery. Among those doing the questioning were slaves themselves. The writers of the enlightenment stressed the application of human reason. When possible, they argued for the application of scientific method as well. Enlightenment writers were generally interested in human society - believed that it could be studied rationally, and interested in how to improve society. One of the most well known philosophes of 18th century france was known as voltaire. Often got in trouble for this and spent many years in prison and exile. Fought a legal battle to try and clear the name of a protestant accused of murder.
