A one-page visual summary of Scientific, Philosophical, and Political Developments — every key topic, term, and theme you need to know for the exam, on a single screen.
What it covers: The Scientific Revolution's continuation under Newton, the political philosophy of the Enlightenment, the spread of Enlightenment ideas, enlightened absolutism, and new economic thought.
Exam weight: About 10–13% of the AP European History exam.
The big question: How did reason-based scientific thinking transform European ideas about politics, religion, and economics — and how did rulers respond to those new ideas?
Themes covered: Cultural & Intellectual Developments (CID), States & Other Institutions of Power (SP), Economic Development (ECD).
Key topics at a glance
Newton & the Scientific Revolution
Universal gravitation and the Principia complete the Scientific Revolution and model the scientific method.
Hobbes & Locke
Competing social contract theories: Hobbes's absolute sovereign versus Locke's natural rights and consent of the governed.
Voltaire, Montesquieu & Rousseau
Religious tolerance, separation of powers, and the general will — political philosophy challenging absolutism.
Diderot & Print Culture
The Encyclopédie, salons, and the Republic of Letters spread Enlightenment ideas across Europe.
Enlightened Absolutism
Frederick the Great, Catherine the Great, and Joseph II adopted reforms while keeping centralized power.
Adam Smith & Laissez-Faire
The Wealth of Nations challenged mercantilism with free-market economic theory.
Physiocrats
French economists who saw land and agriculture, not trade, as the true source of national wealth.
Rococo vs. Neoclassicism
Ornate Rococo style competed with the restrained, classically-inspired Neoclassical aesthetic.
The key terms you must know
Isaac Newton — synthesized the Scientific Revolution with universal gravitation and the scientific method.
John Locke — natural rights, the social contract by consent, and tabula rasa.
Montesquieu — separation of powers among legislative, executive, and judicial branches.
Voltaire — religious tolerance and critique of Church corruption.
Enlightened absolutism — top-down reform that preserved centralized monarchical power.
Adam Smith — laissez-faire economics and critique of mercantilism.
Rousseau — the general will as the basis of legitimate government.
Republic of Letters — the transnational network spreading Enlightenment ideas.
Key themes to remember
The Scientific Revolution's method became the Enlightenment's method. Newton's reliance on observation and reason was applied by philosophes to politics and society.
Social contract theory could justify very different governments. Hobbes used it to defend absolute monarchy; Locke and Rousseau used it to justify limits on, or removal of, unjust rulers.
Enlightened absolutism was reform without revolution. Rulers adopted useful Enlightenment ideas but never gave up centralized control.
Economic thought shifted from state control toward free markets. Smith's laissez-faire theory directly challenged the mercantilist consensus of earlier units.
Common exam traps
Don't confuse Hobbes and Locke. Hobbes justified absolute monarchy from a pessimistic view of human nature; Locke justified limited, consent-based government and natural rights.
Enlightened absolutism is not democracy. Frederick, Catherine, and Joseph II reformed from the top down — they did not share power with their subjects.
Don't treat the Enlightenment as a single unified movement. Philosophes disagreed sharply — Rousseau's communal "general will" differs significantly from Locke's individual rights.
Adam Smith opposed mercantilism, not trade itself. Laissez-faire favored free markets, not the absence of all commerce.
The spread of ideas mattered as much as the ideas themselves. Salons, the Encyclopédie, and rising literacy explain how Enlightenment thought reached beyond a small circle of elites.