The term enlightenment, also known as illustration, is the name given to a spiritual, intellectual and cultural movement that arose during the second half of the 18th century, which was called the “century of lights”. This movement's main objective was to create awareness for its own reason, which would lead to trust, freedom, dignity, autonomy, emancipation and happiness of people. Those individuals who defended this position established that human reason had the capacity to build a better society, in which inequality does not exist and at the same time guarantee the individual rights of each subject, at the same time that education, politics and education are developed. administration in a state. The enlightenment was strongly opposed to the Old Regime and the absolute power that was concentrated in the Monarchy.
The origin of the Illuminism is possible to find it in Europe, specifically in France, being its main defenders, individuals who were part of the middle class. That is why the rise of the bourgeoisie within the social scale was what caused this thought to gain greater popularity within the circles of power and progressively, it was permeating society until it had the ability to cause great changes both in the political as well as the social sphere. The Enlightenment had a great impact on important historical events which occurred in subsequent years such as the United States War of Independence and also the French Revolution.
The Illuminists were characterized by defending freedom, above all, they were progressive and tried to have a rational explanation for almost anything. Among the most important Enlightenment thinkers, the following stand out:
- Voltaire: characterized by being a harsh critic of religion, as well as the Monarchy and censorship. He was a faithful believer in the presence of God in nature and all the elements that make it up, which was also possible to discover through reason.
- Montesquieu: he was one of the first Enlightenment thinkers. His most outstanding contributions include the doctrine of the three powers: executive, legislative and judicial, defending the idea that each of the aforementioned must act within its area.
