Source Collection: Words of the Enlightenment
Document 1
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Author |
John Locke (1632–1704) |
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Date and location |
1690, England |
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Source type |
Primary source – political treatise |
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Description |
In Locke’s Second Treatise of Civil Government, he argues that people have natural rights, and that these rights are the basis of a just and organized society. Remember, this is not a translation, but an excerpt of what Locke actually wrote in English over 300 years ago, so take your time. |
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Citation |
Locke, John. The Second Treatise of Civil Government: And, A Letter Concerning Toleration. Basil Blackwell, 1948. |
we must consider, what state all men are naturally in, and that is, a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons... within the bounds of the law of nature, without asking leave, or depending upon the will of any other man.
A state also of equality... no one having more than another; there being nothing more evident, than that creatures of the same species and rank, promiscuously born to all the same advantages of nature, and the use of the same faculties, should also be equal one amongst another without subordination or subjection...
MEN being... by nature, all free, equal, and independent, no one can be put out of this estate, and subjected to the political power of another, without his own consent. The only way whereby any one divests himself of his natural liberty... is by agreeing with other men to join and unite into a community for their comfortable, safe, and peaceable living one amongst another, in a secure enjoyment of their properties, and a greater security against any, that are not of it...
[The] natural liberty of man is to be free from any superior power on earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man, but to have only the law of nature for his rule. The liberty of man... is to... that established, by consent, in the commonwealth; nor under the dominion of any will, or restraint of any law, but what that legislative shall enact, according to the trust put in it.
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Glossary Promiscuously: in the eighteenth century, this word meant “all together” or “without distinguishing one from another” |
Document 2
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Author |
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778) |
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Date and location |
1762, France |
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Source type |
Primary source – political treatise |
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Description |
In The Social Contract, Rousseau writes about the order of society, with the famous opening lines “Man was born free, but everywhere he is in chains.” In this excerpt, Rousseau, like Locke 72 years before him, talks about natural rights and the state of nature. |
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Citation |
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Contrat social ou Principes du droit politique. Garnier Frères, 1800. Internet Modern History Sourcebook, translated by Henry A. Myers and courtesy of Paul Halsall: https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/mod/rousseau-soccon.asp |
At a point in the state of nature when the obstacles to human preservation have become greater than each individual with his own strength can cope with... an adequate combination of forces must be the result of men coming together. Still, each man’s power and freedom are his main means of self-preservation. How is he to put them under the control of others without damaging himself...
The social contract’s terms, when they are well understood, can be reduced to a single stipulation: the individual member alienates himself totally to the whole community together with all his rights...
In reality, each individual may have one particular will as a man that is different from-or contrary to-the general will which he has as a citizen. His own particular interest may suggest other things to him than the common interest does...
Whatever benefits he had in the state of nature but lost in the civil state, a man gains more than enough new ones to make up for them. His capabilities are put to good use and developed; his ideas are enriched, his sentiments made more noble, and his soul elevated...
The first and most important conclusion from the principles we have established thus far is that the general will alone may direct the forces of the State to achieve the goal for which it was founded, the common good... Sovereignty is indivisible... and is inalienable...
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Glossary Stipulation: a condition or requirement |
Document 3
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Author |
Denis Diderot (1713–1784) and Louis de Jaucourt (1704–1779) |
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Date and location |
1751–1765, France |
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Source type |
Primary source – encyclopedia entries |
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Description |
In these selections from entries from the Encyclopedia, one gets a glimpse of Enlightenment philosophies in France in the mid eighteenth century. Across these entries, there is an emphasis on liberty and freedom, equality, and morality. Slavery is important across these entries, both as a metaphor and as a reference to real events, notably the transatlantic slave trade. |
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Citation |
Diderot, Denis (ascribed by Jacques Proust). “Political authority [abridged].” The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d’Alembert Collaborative Translation Project. Translated by Stephen J. Gendzier. Michigan Publishing, University of Michigan Library, 2009. |
On Political authority
The observation of laws, the conservation of liberty, and the love of country are the prolific sources of all great things and of all beautiful actions... On the contrary, flattery, self-interest, and the spirit of slavery are at the root of all the evils that overpower a state and of all the cowardice that dishonor it.
On Natural Equality
Natural Equality is that which is found among all men solely by the constitution of their nature. This equality is the principle and foundation of liberty. Natural or moral equality is therefore based on the constitution of human nature common to all men, who are born, grow, live, and die in the same way.
Since human nature is the same in all men, it is clear according to natural law that each person must value and treat other people as so many individuals who are naturally equal to himself, that is to say, as men like himself.
… it is the violation of this principle that has established political and civil slavery. The result is that in the countries subject to arbitrary power the princes, the courtiers, the principal ministers, those who control the finances, possess all the riches of the nation, while the rest of the citizens have only the necessaries of life, and the great majority of people groan in poverty.
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Glossary Constitution: the structure or composition of something |
Document 4
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Author |
Henri Grégoire (1750–1831) |
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Date and location |
1791, France |
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Source type |
Primary source – letter |
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Description |
Gregoire was part of the Society of the Friends of the Blacks, a group of mostly white French men and women who called for the abolition of slavery, particularly in the French colonies of the Caribbean and North America. The Society was created in Paris in 1788 and continued until 1793, after the time of the French Revolution. In this letter, Gregoire mobilizes Enlightenment rhetoric and ideals to call upon the non-white residents of Saint-Domingue to lead a revolution and attain freedom and true citizenship. |
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Citation |
Grégoire, Henri. Letter to the Citizens of Color and Free Negroes of Saint-Domingue. Imprimerie du Patriote Français, 1791. Translated by Mitchell Abidor. Marxists.org, 2006. https://www.marxists.org/history/haiti/1791/gregoire.htm |
Friends:
You were men; you are now citizens and reintegrated to the plenitude of your rights. From this day forward you will participate in the sovereignty of the people.
You finally have a fatherland, and from this day forward you will only see the law above you. The advantage of participating in its creation will assure you the inalienable right of all peoples, that of only obeying yourselves.
You have a fatherland, and it will doubtless no longer be a land of exile in which you recognize only masters or companions in misfortune...
It is thus that philosophy expands its horizons in the New World, and soon absurd prejudices will have as its only followers subaltern tyrants, who want to perpetuate in America the reign of despotism that was crushed in France. And what would they have said if the men of color had attempted to tear from whites the enjoyment of political advantages? With what force would they not have cried out against this vexation!...
How their hearts will be moved when... you will point their gaze towards France, saying to them: over there is the motherland. It is from there that liberty, justice, and happiness came among you.
Signed, Grégoire
Paris June 8, 1791
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Glossary Plenitude: many |
Document 5
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Author |
Constitutional Assembly led by Toussaint Louverture (1743–1803) |
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Date and location |
1801, Haiti |
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Source type |
Primary source – political document |
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Description |
This document was the first constitution of Haiti. It abolished slavery and racial discrimination in employment. However, it did not extend political rights to sovereign citizens. Toussaint retained a strong hold on power, and governments were not based on democratic elections. It also upheld certain labor restrictions. This constitution banned free assembly, religions other than Catholicism, and foreign imports. |
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Citation |
“Constitution of 1801.” Translated by Mitchell Abidor. Marxists.org. https://www.marxists.org/history/haiti/1801/constitution.htm |
…
Article 3 — There can be no slaves on this territory; servitude has been forever abolished. All men are born, live and die there free and French.
Article 4 — All men can work at all forms of employment, whatever their color.
Article 5 — No other distinctions exist than those of virtues and talents, nor any other superiority than that granted by the law in the exercise of a public charge. The law is the same for all, whether it punishes or protects...
Article 12 — The Constitution guarantees individual freedom and safety. No one can be arrested except by virtue of a formally expressed order, issued by a functionary who the law gives the right to arrest and detain in a publicly designated place.
Article 13 — Property is sacred and inviolable. Every person, either by himself or his representatives, has the free disposal and administration of that which is recognized as belonging to him. Whoever infringes upon this right renders himself criminal towards society and responsible as concerns the person troubled in his property.
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Glossary Servitude: the state of slavery |
Document 6
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Author |
Louis Boisrond Tonnerre (1776–1806) |
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Date and location |
1 January 1804, Haiti |
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Source type |
Primary source – political document |
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Description |
Many declarations of independence looked like those of France and the United States and focused on rights. This, by contrast, does not focus on rights. Instead, it insists on freedom without using the language of rights. It points to the fact that the French ideals, however eloquent, are hypocritical, and calls upon citizens to fight enslavement in any form. It establishes Haiti as a state, not as a republic. |
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Citation |
Geggus, David Patrick. The Haitian Revolution: A Documentary History. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc, 2014. |
To The People of Haiti
Citizens, it is not enough to have driven out of your country the barbarians who have bloodied it for two centuries. It is not enough to have put an end to the persistent factions that, one after the other, made sport with the figment of freedom that France dangled before your eyes. With one final act of national authority, we must ensure forever the reign of liberty in the land where it was born. We must deny the inhuman government that for long has held our minds in humiliating thralldom any hope of reenslaving us. In short, we must live independent or die...
For fourteen years we have been the victims of our own gullibility and tolerance, defeated not by French arms but by the pitiful eloquence of their official proclamations...
What do we have in common with this murderous nation? Its cruelty compared to our evident moderation, its color unlike our own, the wide seas that separate us, our avenging climate, all tell us that they are not our brothers and never will be...
. . . you shall be the defender of the freedom that you cherish and the support of the leader who commands you. Take therefore from my hands the oath to live free and independent, and to prefer death to anything that might tend to reenslave you.
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Glossary Barbarians: people depicted as to be savage, primitive, or not civilized |
Document 7
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Author |
Simón Bolivar (1783–1830) |
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Date and location |
1813–1819, Venezuela |
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Source type |
Primary source – political document |
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Description |
Simón Bolivar was a Latin American revolutionary. He was born in South America but had European heritage. He often argued for Enlightenment ideals of freedom and sovereignty from the Spaniards. Here, he calls Venezuelans to arms to fight off Spanish occupation (1813) and addresses the legislature after independence (1819). |
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Citation |
Stearns, Peter N. World History in Documents: A Comparative Reader. New York University Press, 1998. |
1813 Proclamation
Venezuelans: An Army of your brothers, sent by the Sovereign Congress of New Granada has come to liberate you. Having expelled the oppressors from the provinces of Mérida and Trujillo, it is now among you.
We are sent to destroy the Spaniards, to protect the Americans, and to reestablish the republican governments that once formed the Confederation of Venezuela. The states defended by our arms are again governed by their former constitutions and tribunals, in full enjoyment of their liberty and independence, for our mission is designed only to break the chains of servitude which still shackle some of our towns…
1819 Speech
Fortunate is the citizen, who... has [convened] this assembly of the national sovereignty so that it may exercise its absolute will! I... place myself among those most favored by Divine Providence, for I have had the honor of uniting the representatives of the people of Venezuela in this august [respected] Congress, the source of legitimate authority, the custodian of the sovereign will, and the arbiter [judge] of the Nation’s destiny...
Passing from ancient to modern times, we find England and France attracting the attention of all nations and affording them a variety of lessons in matters of government. The revolution of these two great peoples... has flooded the world with such a profusion of political enlightenment that today every thinking person is aware of the rights and duties of man and the nature of the virtues and vices of governments...
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Glossary Confederation: a group or league where the members still have some independence; a group, league, or alliance. |