The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment

There were 4 main ideas in the Enlightenment:

• Natural born rights of citizens

• Limits of the power of government

• Social contract in which the citizens agree to be governed in exchange for their rights being protected

• The consent of the governed: a government only has the power with the approval of the citizens.

Multiple Choice

Which "citizens" were left out of this thought process when the Declaration of Independence was written?

• women, enslaved Africans, and Native Americans

• white males

Let's take a closer look at how the ideas of the Enlightenment helped shape a revolution...

Multiple Select

Check all that apply: Who was John Locke?

• An English philosopher and physician

• Widely regarded as one of the most influential thinkers

• Commonly known as the "Father of Liberalism."

Multiple Choice

true or false: John Locke inspired both the European Enlightenment and the writers of the Constitution of the United States.

• true

• false

John Locke's influential ideas:

• Citizens have fundamental rights of "life, liberty, and property."

• He believed that the most basic human law of nature is the preservation of mankind.

• To preserve mankind, he reasoned that individuals have the right and duty to preserve their own lives.

• These ideas were inspirational to Thomas Jefferson as he wrote the Declaration of Independence.