Watch on Soap2day. Emancipation was the process in which Jews in Europe gradually gained equal civil and political rights with other citizens. Before emancipation, Jews faced many restrictions on where they could live, work, study, and participate in society. Starting in the late 18th and 19th centuries, ideas from the Enlightenment and the French Revolution helped lead to the removal of many of these restrictions. Emancipation allowed Jews to become more integrated into European society, although antisemitism and discrimination continued to exist.