In this second part of our series on the French Revolution we look at the early efforts of the National Assembly to bring about equality in a manner that embraces enlightenment ideals.

In this first of a series of episodes on the French Revolution we look at the issues in France that brought Louis XVI to attempt to raise taxes and eventually usher in the start of the revolution.

A quick look at the factors that allow for the development of capitalism in England and Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations.

In this episode we look at how various monarchs in Eastern Europe will embrace the enlightenment while trying to maintain the institution of absolutist monarchy.

In this episode we look at the cultural phenomenon that was the Enlightenment and how it spread amongst the literate middle class in Europe.

A quick look at the major enlightenment philosophers that have a major influence on modern government and society today... Rousseau, Voltaire, Montesquieu, Beccaria, Smith, and Wollstonecraft.

In this second part of our look at the Enlightenment we study three philosophers that promote the idea that government exists because the people allow it to exist... The Social Contract.

In this episode we look at how the 18th century philosophical movement known as the Enlightenment will be an outgrowth of the scientific revolution and why France is considered to be the home of the Enlightenment.

In this episode we look at the ultimate alternative to absolutism and check on a monarch's power... the Glorious Revolution and the English Bill of Rights.

In this third part in our series on alternatives to absolutism, we look at the Interregnum in England and the rule of Oliver Cromwell, which really isn't all that much of an alternative to absolutism.