C/E Week 1

Which Enlightenment thinker believed that the people have the right to overthrow a tyrannical government?

• Thomas Hobbes

• Voltaire

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau

• John Locke

When the Government is dissolved, the People are at liberty to provide for themselves, by erecting a new Legislative... as they shall find it most for their safety and good.

—John Locke, Second Treatise of Civil Government, 1690

What BEST explains how this idea influenced United States government?

• It encouraged people to ignore any laws that they dislike.

• It asserted people’s right to form a government that suits their needs.

• It supported the supremacy of federal laws over laws passed in the states.

• It proposed the division of government powers into three separate branches.

Which political philosopher’s ideology MOST influenced Thomas Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration of Independence?

• Montesquieu

• Hobbes

• Machiavelli

• Locke

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

—The Declaration of Independence

Which statement BEST summarizes the passage?

• Governments create people's rights

• Rights existed before governments

• People must give up rights

• People only have the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

—That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of [people's rights], it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government . . . —The Declaration of Independence, 1776

This excerpt is based on which philosophical argument?

• rule of law

• civil disobedience

• social contract theory

• divine right of kings

Which statement identifies an idea present in the Declaration of Independence?

• Government should have unlimited authority to guarantee basic rights

• The people can overthrow a government that fails to protect basic rights

• Government should be based on a written constitution

• The people can increase government authority to expand basic rights

"When the legislative and executive . . . are united in the same person, there can be no liberty..."

—Spirit of Laws, Baron de Montesquieu, 1748

Which U.S. constitutional principle was influenced by this idea?

• separation of powers

• popular sovereignty

• legal equality

• unalienable rights

Which aspect of the U.S. Constitution reflects the influence of Baron de Montesquieu?

• the reservation of powers to the states and the people

• the ability of the people to vote on laws and representatives

• the separation of the federal government into three branches

• the establishment of a federal system of government

Which power did the Articles of Confederation deny the national government?

• levy taxes

• print money

• declare war

• establish a postal system

Which document was adopted to address the problems with the Articles of Confederation?

• Northwest Ordinance

• Olive Branch Petition

• United States Constitution

• Albany Plan of Union