Enlightenment Vocabulary and Ideas

Enlightenment Vocabulary and Ideas

Guiding Questions: What were the major ideas of the Enlightenment? How did the Enlightenment influence the United States’ Founding?

• I can define and explain important terms associated with the Enlightenment.
• I can explain the major ideas of Enlightenment thinkers Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
• I can compare the influence of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau on the Founders of the United States.

Term	Definition	Picture or Memory Aid	Facts or Characteristics
1. Enlightenment	a movement of the 1600s–1700s focused on examining human nature and its characteristics, including forms of government	💡 Enlighten me in the Age of Reason.	Use of reason Thoughts on government 1700s Influenced the American Founding
2. social contract
3. sovereign
4. natural rights
5. natural law

 

Enlightenment Thinkers and Their Ideas

Enlightenment Thinker	Thoughts on Human Nature	Best Form of Government
Thomas Hobbs
John Locke
Jean-Jacques Rousseau

 

Concluding Analysis

1. Which thinker(s) believed most strongly that people can be trusted to govern? Why?
2. Which thinker(s) believed most strongly that people cannot be trusted to govern? Why?
3. You are president of the United States. Which one of these Enlightenment thinkers would you invite to be your chief political advisor? Why?