Unit 1: Part VI: Philosophical Ideas
What was the Enlightenment?
a. _____________________________________________________________________________________
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Philosophers of the Enlightenment
 Thomas Hobbes (
)
o Self-Government – if people were left to rule themselves life would be “nasty, brutish and short”
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
John Locke (1632-1704)
o Natural Rights “All mankind …. Being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his
life, health, liberty, or possessions”
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o Social Contract
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o Right to Rebel _________________________________________________________________________

Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
o “Man is born free, yet everywhere he is in chains.”
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o Consent of the Governed ________________________________________________________________

Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755)
o “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”
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o Separation of Powers
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 Legislative ____________________________________________
 Executive _____________________________________________
 Judicial _______________________________________________
Thomas Paine
o Common Sense________________________________________________________________________
The Declaration of Independence
o Written by ___________________________________
o Purpose:
 _____________________________________
 “….it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which
have connected them with another….”:
 __________________________________
 “….a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should


declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”
Sources of American Law
Cause
Magna Carta (pg 33)
Common Law (pg 34)
Mayflower Compact
(pg 36)
Natural Rights (pg 34)
Enlightenment
English Bill of Rights
(pg 34)
Social Contract
Theory (pg 35)
Description
Effect
1. Explain the reasoning behind the Magna Carta and what its impact was on the English citizens.
2. How are common law and social contract theory similar?
3. What freedom is protected by having separation of church and state? Why is this important?
4. List the philosophers who were a major part of the Enlightenment movement.
5. Why do you think the colonists felt the need to draw up the Mayflower Compact?
Sources of
American Law
Pg 28 or 32