Foner states the Enlightenment first originated among the French which then made its way to Britain. The Enlightenment desired to apply the scientific method of careful investigation that was based on research and experiment to political and social life. Our powerpoint states some of the main thoughts associated with the Enlightenment were modernization, skepticism, reason, and liberty. It also states how the Enlightenment was the beginning of the modern western world: “Early Modern Era”. Foner states that the one motivation for the Enlightenment was a reaction of the awful religious wars that racked Europe in the seventeenth century. This made the Enlightenment thinkers shift more of their thoughts on reason instead of religion. Thomas Hobbes
