Influence+on+the+Major+Democratic+Revolutions+of+the+18th+Century



Voltiare’s main contribution to the Enlightenment was freedom of speech, press and religion and opposition to monarchy, militarism and slavery. Voltaire was a crusader against tyranny and bigotry, he was more skeptical than Rousseau but was still influenced by the French Revolution. Voltaire defended freedom of speech and religious tolerance and said that the ideal religion would teach more morality than dogma. The two things Voltaire felt the mostly strongly against were religious intolerance and an absolutist government. [Shane]

Before going into Voltaire himself, lets look at how the Enlightenment had affected and influenced the French Revolution itself. "The Enlightenment" or " The Age of Reasoning" took place in the 18th century, and was a new stage of thought that many enlightenment philosopher had come up with. Their main idea was told that people should think for themselves and the phrase," Cause and Effect" also stood strongly in the Enlightened Age. [Jack]

Voltaire had offended many people during his lifetime. His views were not widely accepted by the church and government, especially since his writings were against the church. After his exile to England, he became aware of the differences in government back in his hometown of France. He proceeded to write about these differences and led many people to believe that they were entitled to certain rights as "man" just as those in England. He brought back ideas and beliefs of the powers of individuals. Through his satirical writings, he spread logical, reasonable ideas that would soon be accepted and contribute to the French Revolution. He believed in the freedom of speech and his political writings that were often banned, made people want to read them even more. [Justine]

Voltaire was a man of his own wisdom, which was very inspirational.His contribution to the revolution was minimal to some but grand to me, he had a very spoken word on how he feels about government, religion, and speech. he thought that religion was a waste of time; and since there was many catholic people and people practicing new religions, that was something people would take interest to. He wasn't the only one that felt that way, he had friends and family that, because of him, had more of an expansion to there outlook on religion. That goes along with speech, he believed everyone should be able to say what they want. And with the government; he didn't like most of the issues and he had been exiled too many time for stuff he believed should be okay. Voltaire's beliefs, after he died became even more known and even more influential, it had a great impact on the revolution.[Kayla]