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Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes was a philosopher during the enlightenment. One of his ideas was the social contract, which was an agreement between people and the government. He believes that people are inherently evil. -
John Locke
He was a philosopher during the time of the enlightenment. His ideas were the natural rights of life, liberty, and property. -
The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment was a revolution in human thought. Its purpose was to reform society using reason, to challenge the ideas grounded in tradition and faith, and to advance knowledge through scientific method. It took place in Europe -
Baron de Montesquieu
Montesquieu was a philosopher during the time of the enlightenment. His ideas were the spirit of laws, or the three branches of government and separation of powers. -
Francios- Marie Voltaire
Voltaire was another enlightenment philosopher. His ideas were the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and right to a fair trial. -
Jean- Jacques Rousseau
Rousseau was also a philosopher during the enlightenment. Like Hobbes he also believed in the social contract. Rousseau's other ideas were the common good and the natural rights. He believed that "man is born free". -
George Washington
George Washington was the president of the Constitutional Convention. He was also in first president of the United States. He thought that we should have a new type of government that would incorporate new ideas from the enlightenment like the three branches of goverment. -
John Adams
John Adams was one of the founding fathers. He was on the commitee to draft the Declaration of Independance. He also became the first vice president. Him and others invented and adopted revolutionary ideas about freedom of religion and changing the form of the government -
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independance. His ideas were to create life, liberty, and property, just like John Locke. His also thought that all men should be born free, just like Rousseau. -
The grievances of British subjects in the American colonies.
The British were taxing the American colonies unfairly because the were in debt from the war. This led the Americans to declare independence from British rule. The Declaration of independence had many ideas from the enlightenment, like the natural rights of life, liberty, and property, and the idea that "man is born free". -
Revolution!
The revolution was the war for American independence from Britain. It began in Lexington, MA and ended eight years later in 1783. The Colonies wanted freedom from Britain to create their own government, in 1783 the Americans had won the war and declared independence. The Revolution connects to the enlightenment because the Americans were fighting for their natural rights of life, liberty, and property. -
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence was the document that established the United States as a nation, and freed the U.S. from British rule. Many of the ideas in the Declaration came from the enlightenment like, the natural rights of life, liberty, and property. Also, Rousseau's idea of "man is born free" was incorporated. -
Articles of Confederation
The Articles of Confederation was the original constitution of the United States that was ratified in 1781. Some of the problems were that each state only had one vote in congress, congress couldn't tax the citizens, there was no executive branch to enforce the laws made by congress, and there was no national court sysyem. Also, each state printed it's own money,and laws required 9/13 state majority to pass by congress.These problems led to the creation of the new Constitution. -
Founding Fathers
A founding father is a political leader and statesman who participated in the American Revolution by signing the Declaration of Independance and establishing the U.S. Constitution.The founding fathers incorporated many ideas from the enlightenment into the constitution, like the 3 branches of government. -
Northwest Ordinance
The Northwest Ordinance was a law that was passed in 1787 to regulate the settlement of the northwest territory. This law eventually divided the area into several states. -
Constitution
The Constitution is the supreme law of the United States, and is the national frame for our government. The government is divided into three branches of government; legislature, judicial, and executive. The separation of powers was an idea from the enlightenment made by Montesquieu. There is also a bill of rights that contains ideas of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and a fair trial from Voltaire. -
Fedralists and antifederalists arguments
Federalists wanted a strong central government, limit state power, and no bill of rights. Anti-federalists wanted states rights, weak central government, a bill of rights, and farmers as leaders. They thought that the articles should be amended. The Federalist wrote under the name Publius, and the authors were Hamilton, Madison, and Jay.The anti- federalist pen names were Cato,Brutus, and Centinal. Since the anti- federalist wanted a bill of rights they supported ideas of Voltaire and Hobbes. -
Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights are the first 10 amendments of the consitution. In the Bill of RIghts, Voltaires ideas of Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Religion, and a fair trial were incorporated.
