Impact of the Printing Press on Enlightenment

The printing press was invented around 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg in Germany. He used the press to print 200 copies of the Bible in 1452 and sold them in 1455. He wanted to keep his technique of printing, which involved having moveable letters that you can place in order to make a full page and then reset and reuse the letters to make other pages, a secret, but obviously this was not the case, as there were about 2500 European cities with printing presses by 1500. (1)

 

The invention of the printing press had a huge impact on society, for the first time ever writers could publish their work and people from all over could read what they had to say. Philosophers took advantage of this and spread their ideas far and wide. Since so much information was being spread through writing, literacy rates increased throughout Europe.

Without the printing press, the age of Enlightenment would have been a much different time. It’s strange to think how important something like a printer is. The fact that people were able to communicate to large audiences without having to be geographically close to them is an amazing development in history.

 

There was normally a printing press in each city, so they weren’t very hard to find. This revolutionary invention allowed people to spread their own ideas and thoughts and was a major advancement toward free speech. (1)

 

The printing press prevented possible corruption that could happen when hand copying a work and since every copy was the same, progress in education could take place much more rapidly. People had greater access to works of all kinds, religious, medical, business, educational, etc. This allowed the general public to be more educated and furthered the advancement of the arts and sciences, which were both major focuses of the Enlightenment.(2)

 

Jean Jacques Rousseau believed that the only reason philosophers were famous and well known was because their works were published. He thought that there were probably philosophers in each generation, but we just don’t know about them because there was no way of them becoming famous other than traveling and constantly giving speeches all over. He also believed that philosophy, sciences, and the arts were the downfall of empire, so maybe he thought that the fact that there weren’t printing presses then perpetuated the empires of the time. (3)

 

One of the biggest impacts of the printing press was through religion. Thanks to the invention, Protestantism spread all throughout Europe through the printing of Christian Bibles and there was a decline in Catholicism in Western Europe.  Prior to the invention of the printing press most Bibles and other books were printed in Latin, a language that only well-educated people could understand. After the printing press was invented, however, they were printed in other languages which allowed many more people to study both religious and scholarly books.(4)

 

The fact that the Bible was printed in Latin allowed for there to be corruption in the Catholic church.  There was a lot of corruption in the Roman Catholic Church during and prior to the 1500s, Martin Luther posted the “95 Theses” on the outside of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. These sparked the Reformation and the forming of Protestantism throughout Europe. The printing press helped to start this want for change in the church. Since Bibles were available in common languages and were not expensive, people were able to study the Bible on their own and make their own interpretations of what they read rather than just listening to the church as they always had.(5)

Nowadays when you think of something as basic as a printer you don’t think of the immense impact it had when it was invented. Without the printing press, education would not have progressed as it has, information would not have been spread as effectively or as efficiently, and religion would not have changed in the same way that it did.

 

Printing presses very similar to the one that Johannes Gutenberg invented were used up until the 1900s, when more modern printers were invented.(6) This proves that Gutenberg’s invention was extremely advanced, as it was not replaced until several centuries after it was invented. Where would we be without such a revolutionary invention?

(3) Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. The Basic Political Writings. 2nd ed. Indianapolis: Hackett, 2011. Print.

 

 

 

Modern and Ancient Empire and the Humanities

 

 

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http://www.esbnyc.com

The humanities, or the study of what makes us human, are extremely important in one’s cultural education. Learning about subjects such as biology, calculus, or chemistry are important, don’t get me wrong. There is just something of greater necessity in learning about why people act the way they do and learning to discuss important and controversial topics with others.

Without having the ability to discuss and debate with others, we rob ourselves of the insight that comes from other people. There are ideas that we have that we may never have considered without thorough discussion of humanity and life in general.

One thing that I am starting to gain interest in from taking Humanities Core is empire, specifically modern day empire. To outline my views on empire I will look at and go through the history and building of the Empire State Building and how it relates to the building of the Roman Empire. I find this very appropriate as the building itself has been around through the redefining of empire from an ancient and extremely powerful governing power to its modern business applications.

Just as Rome started as a small city in Italy in the eighth century B.C., the Empire state building was once a piece of farmland in the middle of New York back owned by a man named John Thompson in 1799, when it was worth a mere $2,600. The farm was sold in 1825 to Charles Lawton for $10,000 who then sold it 2 years later for $20,500 to John Jacob Astor. In a matter of 28 years, the property value increased drastically.

The first commercial building on the property was not erected until 1897, when Mrs. William Backhouse Astor had the Waldorf Astoria hotel built. In 1828 the hotel was sold to Bethlehem Engineering Corporation for about $20 million. One year later Empire State Inc. came to be.

Construction of the building began in 1930, the framework was built at the rapid rate of 4.5 stories per week! Rome was not built in a day and neither was the Empire State building, but modern empire building is a lot faster than it was in ancient times.

For the purpose of the Roman Empire to Empire State building connection, business deals should be seen as battles and wars, with the Roman Empire gaining land and the Empire State gaining value. From 753-264 B.C. the small city of Rome took over the entire peninsula of Italy through many gruesome battles won through relentless effort. By 146 B.C. Rome expanded into Sicily, much of Spain, Carthage, and Macedonia through the 3 Punic wars and the Macedonian wars.

Rome and the Empire State both went from being small and easily overlooked to huge empires. These are examples of both ancient and modern empires. Rome, an ancient and powerful civilization of people that covered a vast amount of land throughout Europe and parts of Africa and Asia, took centuries to build. The Empire State Building, a building that was originally owned by Empire State Inc. and since has been purchased by various companies and is now owned by Empire State Realty Trust and the offices inside can be leased, was built in a few years and has since changed hands through business deals, increasing its value over decades.

Rome’s construction was basically completed by 117 A.D., 870 years after Rome was originally established. It is known as one of if not the greatest empire in history. Rome is an iconic symbol of ancient empire.

The Empire State Building changed hands several times over the years and is now worth an estimated $550 million. It was once a humble farm and was built into what it is today, 217 years later. It has only been 85 years since the Empire State Building was built. The Empire State Building is an iconic symbol of modern empire.

Modern and ancient empire have many differences and similarities. Ancient empires took centuries to build and grew through gruesome wars. Modern empires are built much more quickly and grow through business and real estate deals. Both ancient and modern empires are extremely powerful and reach people all over the world. Business empires reach them through expansion of companies and ancient empires do so through expanding their borders and making trade deals.

Humanities allow us to discuss and interpret the meanings of words such as empire. The meanings of such words evolve over time and it is important to understand how this happens. It is amazing how the evolution of a word, such as empire, can teach us  so much about the world and its history.

 

*Roman information: http://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/ancient-rome

*Empire State Building information: http://www.esbnyc.com/explore/historical-timeline