Read the text, and answer the questions on the following slides.

The Age of Enlightenment began in Europe in the late 17th century. It would bring about fundamental changes in the way the world was understood and how societies were organized. Until then, the church had dictated [told people] what to think and how to live. Dissent [disagreeing with those in power] was punished even by death. But with the Enlightenment, people began to embrace new ideas about freedom of expression and new rational methods to investigate the world. In England, Newton made the foundations of science as we know it by showing that the universe was governed by physical laws that could be discovered using observation and reason. In philosophy, Enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire and Diderot argued that man, not God, was at the center of the world. Ideas were beginning to change, but in the 18th century most of Europe was still [ruled by] absolute monarchs. Empowered by Enlightenment thinking in both Europe and America, people began to demand real change.

1. Absolute Monarch

2. Reformation & Scientific Revolution

3. Printing Press

4. Urbanization