The Enlightenment: Age of Reason

• The Enlightenment, or Age of Reason, occurred in Europe between 1685 and 1815.
• During this period, politics, philosophy, and science experienced drastic changes.
• Thinkers from France and Britain questioned traditional authority on beliefs about humanity's existence.
• The Enlightenment is considered a major cause of the French Revolution.
• The ideas of liberty, equality, and individual rights, which influenced the overthrow of King Louis XVI, were inspired by Enlightenment thinkers.

Enlightenment Thinkers

• Enlightenment thinkers influenced revolutionaries to question feudal society and authority in France.
• Thinkers challenged existing knowledge about humanity and the natural world due to intellectual, political, and social desires for progress.
• The scientific process, reasoning, and logic replaced traditional knowledge with skepticism.
• Inventions and discoveries propelled Europe forward during the Enlightenment.
• European domination in Asia and Africa intensified through exploration and colonization of the Americas.

Involvement in the American War of Independence

• The American War of Independence was a political battle from 1765 to 1783 where colonists rejected the British monarchy.
• The colonists overthrew British authority and founded the United States of America.
• France allied with the American revolutionaries on February 6, 1778.
• The Treaty of Amity and Commerce and the Treaty of Alliance were signed in Paris.
• France sent navy fleets and soldiers to assist the American colonists.
• The American Revolutionary War set the stage for the French uprising.
• France participated in the war against Britain, its colonial rival, to restore its reputation after defeat in the Seven Years' War.
• In 1776, Benjamin Franklin secured a formal alliance with France.
• In October 1777, King Louis XVI approved financial assistance after the colonists’ victory at the Battle of Saratoga.
• From 1778 to 1783, France supplied the colonists with arms, munitions, and supplies.
• Approximately 12,000 French soldiers and 32,000 sailors, including Marquis de Lafayette, arrived in America during the American Revolution.
• French alliance and assistance were crucial in the British defeat at Yorktown.
• In 1780, the French, led by commander Rochambeau, landed at Rhode Island.
• The Franco-American alliance marched south and besieged British General Charles Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1780.
• France faced a financial crisis due to the assistance it provided, leading to political and social unrest within France.
• Supporting the war effort financially led to a debt disaster, resulting in increased taxes and loans.
• Trade diminished during the war but revived in 1783, when the Treaty of Paris was signed, officially ending the war between the American colonies and Britain.