Make sure there is
NOTHING on your
desks when the tardy bell
rings.
Arrange the sentence strips into two
columns, based on your belief of how
each strip is connected to the others in
that group.
Once completed, try and create a
definition for each group.
What is the difference
between libel and
slander?
The Enlightenment
Challenging Conventional
Authority
John Peter Zenger
 Zenger
publishes an anti-government
newspaper
 Called
a governor’s supporters “the dregs
and scandal of human nature”
 Zenger
is arrested and tried for libel
 He is found innocent, which starts the
movement for freedom of the press
Enlightenment
Thinkers
Magna Carta (1215)
Because of civil war in England, King John
agreed to sign the Magna Carta to buy
himself time
 Importance- Magna Carta is the first
political document that limited Royal
authority

 Denied
excessive use of power
John Locke
 Two
Treatises of Government
 Locke
believes a Monarch’s power comes
from the people
 The people obey the government’s laws
and the government protects the people’s
rights- Natural Rights as humans
 Life,
Liberty, and Property
 Revolution
is justified then, if …
Thomas Hobbes
 Leviathan
 Argues
that people are anti-social, weak,
selfish, and basically evil at birth
only by submitting to the protection
of a sovereign power can individuals
avoid constant anarchy and war
 strong central authority is the necessary
basis for government
Locke





versus
Liberty over Order
Government can be
changed by its citizens
Right to Life, Liberty,
and possessions
Men are born free and
equal
Democratic Government





Hobbes
Order over Liberty
Government needs to
control its citizens
Give up Natural Rights
for protection
People act in their own
self-interest
Authoritative Government
Jean Jacques Rousseau
 The
Social Contract
 Government
should be formed by the
consent of the people
 Then, the government
should make laws
Baron Montesquieu
 Spirit
of the Laws
 States
there should be three types of
political power
 Executive
 Judicial
 Legislative
 This
protects people’s liberty
In conclusion…
In two paragraphs, explain how enlightenment
thinkers such as, Locke, Rousseau, and
Montesquieu, and documents such as the
Mayflower Compact, Fundamental Orders of
Connecticut, and Maryland Toleration Act, led
to the creation of the U.S. Constitution.