Hi there, I'm Mr. Roberts, and thanks for joining me for today's history lesson, where my job will be to guide you through our history resources.

I'll be making sure that by the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to securely meet our lesson objective.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to describe what the enlightenment was and the influence it had on the wider world.

There are five key terms that we'll use to help us navigate our way through today's lesson.

Those words are enlightenment, social contract, revolution, settlers and Ancien Regime.

The Enlightenment was a movement in the 1600s and 1700s that promoted the use of reason and questioned authority.

A social contract is an agreement that rulers should govern in a way that benefits the people in exchange for having power over them.

A revolution is the forcible overthrow of a government, a great or complete change.

Settlers are people who have arrived to live in a new area of land, and the Ancien Regime was the name for the political and social system in France before the Revolution, ruled by the monarch King Louis XVI.

Our lesson today is going to be split into three main parts.

We're going to begin by looking at what the Enlightenment was and how it challenged authority.

The Enlightenment happened during the 1600s and 1700s when thinkers known as philosophers gathered together and accelerated scientific and political change.

Enlightenment philosophers such as John Locke in England, Jean-Jacques Rousseau in France and Benjamin Franklin in America, believed in a new idea known as the Social Contract, which was the idea that governments should rule and work for the benefit of ordinary people.

The social contract states that people in a society also agree to be subject to the laws of the government in return for protection and freedom.

Locke, Rousseau and Franklin criticised the ability of a monarch to act as they pleased, known as having absolute power, as it went against the rules of the social contract between rulers and their people.

These ideas would lead to revolutions in America, France, and Haiti in the late 1700s and early 1800s.

Now, let's see if we've retained what we've just learned.

Finish the sentence on the screen using one of the options.

In exchange for their authority, rulers should govern in a way that benefits their people.

This is known as the A social constant, B, social contact, or C, social contract.

Pause the video, have a think, and when you are ready for the answer, press play.

Welcome back, and well done if you said C, social contract.

Let's do another quick check for understanding about three events we've just heard about.

These three events all occurred during the Enlightenment, the Haitian Revolution, the American Revolution, and the French Revolution.

Starting with the earliest, put them into chronological order.

When you've made a decision, come back to the video and press play.

Welcome back, well done if you said that the American Revolution was the earliest, followed by the French Revolution, with the Haitian Revolution being the latest.

Now it's time for a written task.

I would like you to explain how the Enlightenment helped cause revolutions around the world.

Try and mention the following key words in your answer, enlightenment, social contract, and revolution.

When you've written your answer, come back to the video and press play for some feedback.

Welcome back.

I asked you to explain how the Enlightenment helped to cause revolutions around the world.

Well done if your answer looks something like this.

The Enlightenment was a movement where philosophers started to spread ideas about questioning the authority of the government and the Church.

Philosophers like John Locke believed in the social contract, the idea that rulers had a responsibility to govern for the benefit of the people.

Revolution occurred in America, France, and Haiti, because people believed in these new enlightenment ideas and were convinced that they were being treated unfairly by the people that had authority over them.

And now we're ready to move on to the second part of today's lesson, where we'll be looking at the Enlightenment's impact on America and France in more detail.

Enlightenment ideas were shared throughout the British Empire, including in Britain's 13 colonies in America.

Here, men like Benjamin Franklin wanted to make sure that the British monarchy and government were upholding the social contract with the American settlers.

By the mid 1700s, those who had settled in the American colonies had grown frustrated with British rule.

By 1763, Britain had spent a great deal of money protecting the American colonies and defeating France in the seven years war, and now chose to impose heavy taxes such as the Stamp Act and the Quartering Act in 1765 to make up for it.

The settlers believed the taxes went too far and were too expensive, especially since the American settlers did not have any say in how they were being governed.

Events in Boston between 1770 and 1773, further inflamed tensions and war broke out in 1775.

With the help of France, the settlers defeated Britain in 1781 and later that decade, the founding fathers of the new United States of America, including Enlightenment thinker Benjamin Franklin, signed the United States Constitution setting up how their new country would be governed in line with Enlightenment commitments to equality, freedom, and happiness.

Now let's do another check for understanding.

Whose opinion is more correct based on what you now know? Sam says, the American settlers were angry with the amount of money the British were taxing them without giving them any say in how they were being governed.

Whereas Alex says, the American settlers were angry about the amount of money that Britain had spent on defending them against French and Native American attacks.

Pause the video and decide who you think has the more accurate opinion based on what you've learned.

When you are ready for the answer, return to the video and press play.

Welcome back.

Well done if you said Sam's is more convincing because laws such as the Stamp Act and Quartering Act of 1765 increased the amount of money the settlers had to pay.

And when Benjamin Franklin travelled to Britain to ask for representation, he was ignored.

We also know that Alex is wrong because the American settlers were actually grateful for the protection Britain gave them, but Britain was trying to pass the cost of this protection onto the settlers through the Quartering Act and the Stamp Act of 1765.

At the same time, Britain was refusing them any say in the laws they had to follow.

Enlightenment thinkers in France, such as Voltaire and Rousseau, who believed in the social contract, saw how their ideas had helped cause the American Revolution.

And as a result now began to look at all the problems in their own country, which they blamed on King Louis XVI and his Ancien Regime.

France spent a huge amount supporting the American Revolution in the 1770s and now had to tax its own people heavily.

King Louis XVI's Ancien Regime continued to collect a land tax known as taille from French peasants, the poorest people in society, many of whom were already starving due to a recent series of poor harvests.

Nobles and the clergy did not have to pay taille, which seemed very unfair to the French peasants, who belonged to the Third Estate.

Louis XVI also continued spending vast sums on his own lifestyle and his wife, Queen Mary Antoinette, was also hated by the French people as she was seen as responsible for his extravagance.

Louis tried to present himself as a friend of the French people at a meeting of the estates general, but the Third Estate broke away when it was suggested that they should pay even more tax, and they formed their own national assembly.

Further tensions grew between the Third Estate and the Ancien Regime, and eventually Louis was executed in January, 1793, bringing about an end to absolute monarchy in France.

The new French Republic would spend the following years fighting to defend itself from other countries as monarchs were terrified that similar revolutions would happen to them.

Now it's time for a learning check to make sure that we retain the information that we've talked about so far.

Historians will consider both Sam and Alex's opinion as valid or true, but whose opinion do you agree with the most based on your learning so far? Sam says that the Enlightenment was the most important cause of the French Revolution, whereas Alex claims the American Revolution was the most important cause of the French Revolution.

Pause the video and have a think about whose opinion you agree with more and why.

When you are ready, press play for some feedback.

Welcome back.

I asked you to have a think about who you agree with more in terms of what the main cause of the French Revolution was.

You could have agreed with Sam or Alex as historians would consider both opinions as valid.

Some historians would agree with Sam because the enlightenment was a long-term cause of the French revolution, whereas some historians would agree with Alex because the American Revolution was a medium term cause of the French Revolution.

Which two of the statements on the screen would a historian think were short-term causes of the French Revolution? A, the Stamp Act and Quartering Act of 1765.

B, French peasants having to pay taille.

Or C, the extravagance of Louis XVI and Mary Antoinette.

Pause the video while you have a think which two of these statements a historian would consider to be short term causes of the French Revolution.

And when you are ready, press play.

Welcome back and well done if you said B and C.

It's correct to say that French peasants having to pay taille and the extravagance of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were both reasons why the Third Estate in France got incredibly angry and helped to cause the French Revolution.

Now it's time for a written task.

Finish the sentence starters below.

When you're done, press play for some feedback.

Welcome back.

I asked you to finish the sentence starters on the screen.

There are plenty of things you could have written and some people will have written more than others, but well done if your answer to the first sentence looked anything like this.

The Enlightenment helped to inspire the American Revolution because it caused people to start to question the authority of government.

The American settlers questioned whether Britain should be taxing them so heavily when they had no say in how they were governed.

This led to them getting angry when Britain would not listen to them and they revolted against British rule.

Well done if your second point included any of the following, the American Revolution helped to inspire the French Revolution because France had supported the American settlers both financially and militarily, during the American Revolution.

This meant that they started to question where the King Louis XVI and his Ancien Regime was right to be taxing them so heavily, especially since the poorest members of society who were already starving had to pay the most tax, especially the taille.

This led to them revolting against the king and his execution in 1793.

And that brings us nicely on to the final part of today's lesson, where we'll be looking at the effect of the Enlightenment on the wider world.

The new French Republic continued to engage in enslavement and colonialism throughout its empire, despite the Enlightenment ideas of equality that had helped inspire the French Revolution.

One such place was the Caribbean island of Saint-Domingue, a French colony home to half a million enslaved Africans.

There were also around 30,000 white European settlers there and roughly the same amount of free people of African or indigenous Taíno origin.

This latter group had been inspired by Enlightenment books and pamphlets, as well as news of the French Revolution.

They aspired to the same dreams and living standards as white Europeans, but instead faced discrimination from the European settlers on the island.

This group joined with the population of enslaved Africans and revolted under the leadership of the formerly enslaved Toussaint Louverture.

His brilliant tactics led to a series of French defeats.

However, he died in a French prison in 1802 after being taken captive.

His leadership did however, inspire his people to victory in 1804 with the island declaring its independence, meaning it was no longer a colony of France.

The revolutionaries changed the island's name to Haiti, meaning land of mountains in the indigenous Taíno language and abolished slavery.

It was the first Black-led republic in the Americas.

However many countries, who actually shared Haiti's Enlightenment values of freedom and equality failed to support the island's new republic.

This failure was due to discriminatory beliefs about race with other republics having a fear of it being led by people of African descent rather than one that was led by white Europeans.

The Haitian Revolution successfully inspired slave revolts in Jamaica and Barbados, both under the control of the British who would subsequently be inspired to go on to abolish enslavement throughout its empire.

Now it's time for a quick learning check.

Which two of the three options on the screen were a big influence on Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution? A, the French revolution, B, the defeat of Napoleon or C, Enlightenment ideas.

Pause the video, have a think, and when you're ready, press play for the answer.

Welcome back, and well done if you said A and C, it is true to say that Toussaint Louverture and the Haitian Revolution were inspired by both the French Revolution and Enlightenment ideas.

Another one, which two statements correctly describe impacts of the Haitian Revolution? A, the Haitian Revolution inspired other revolts by enslaved people.

B, the Haitian Revolution inspired campaigns in Europe for the abolition of slavery.

Or C, the Haitian Revolution inspired the American Revolution in 1781.

Pause the video, press play when you're ready for the answers.

Welcome back and well done if you said A and B correctly describe the impacts of the Haitian Revolution.

Now it's time for the final written task in today's lesson where the challenge is to write concisely about a number of events.

In one paragraph, explain how the enlightenment led to the Haitian Revolution using the chain of events on the screen.

Pause the video, and when you are done, press play for some feedback.

Welcome back.

There are a number of things you could have written but well done if your final written task looks something like this.

The Enlightenment in Europe began to question the authority of monarchy and believed in the social contract.

This spread to America where settlers rose up against British rule in response to unfair taxes.

These events inspired the French Third Estate to do the same for similar reasons, killing their king in 1793.

This inspired hating a French colony home to half a million enslaved Africans to launch a revolution under the leadership of Toussaint Louverture in demand of the same rights and freedoms as white Europeans.

And that brings us to the end of today's lesson where the only thing left to do is to summarise the key learning points.

We started by looking at how the Enlightenment included ideas about the relationship between governments and people which inspired groups of people to challenge their absolutist governments.

We then saw how these ideas and the challenges they inspired led to revolutions in America, France, and Haiti in the late 1700s and 1800s.

Finally, we finished with learning about how each revolution also inspired the next with the American Revolution, inspiring the French Revolution, and both of these then inspiring the Haitian Revolution.

And that's the end of today's lesson.

Thanks so much for all your hard work.

It's been a real pleasure guiding you through our history resources today, and I look forward to welcoming you in the future for another history lesson.