Enlightenment and
the American
Revolution
World History B – Seminar 2
Warm Up: Define the following terms on
your illustrated dictionary definitions sheet
1. Philosophe 2. Natural rights
Definitions
• Philosophe
• Member of a group of Enlightenment thinkers who
tried to apply the methods of science to the
improvement of society
• Natural Law
• Rule or law that governs human nature
• Natural Right
• Right that belongs to all humans from birth
• Enlightenment
• Revolution in thinking. Through the use of reason,
people and governments could solve every social,
political and economic problem.
Enlightenment
and the American Revolution
•
•
•
•
Natural right
Right that belongs to all humans from birth
Rule of Law
Government by Law.
The rule of law implies
that government authority
may only be exercised in
accordance with written
laws, which were adopted
through an established procedure.
The Philosophy of Unalienable
Rights Advances
• John Locke
• 1690
• People first lived in anarchy
• Needed a “social contract”
• An entire society agrees to be
governed by its general will, and all
individuals should be forced to abide
by the general will since it represents
what is best for the entire
community.
• People gave up only SOME of their
individual rights.
• Kept the right to:
- Live
- Enjoy Liberty
- Own Property
• Rulers who violated these “natural” rights
broke the social contract and could be
overthrown.
Enlightenment and the
American Revolution
From Wrongs to Rights!
One great concept which drove the
American Revolution against Great
Britain in 1776 and defined the creation
of the United States of America is the
idea of obtaining “natural rights” for
Americans.
Warm Up: Create a bubble map using
the term “natural rights.”
Enlightenment
and the American Revolution
Create a bubble map.
Rights
from Birth
Natural
Rights
The Philosophes
• Denis Diderot – put together a collection of the writings
of the major philosophes. Was an intellectual “best
seller.”
• Montesquieu – Described the “perfect” government.
Power provided evenly over three branches of
government - SEPARATION OF POWERS
a. Legislative – Made laws (Congress)
b. Executive – Administered laws
(President, army, etc.)
c. Judicial – Interpreted and applied laws.
(Supreme Court and lesser courts.)
Montesquieu believed each branch
should be subject to checks and balances.
Separation of Powers
Montesquieu’s idea was
used in the United
States Constitution.
Draw a triangle
like the one here.
Separation of Powers
Montesquieu’s idea was
used in the United
States Constitution.
Congress
Legislative Branch
Lawmaking
Checks and Balances
Philosophes, cont.
• Voltaire – Used public
opinion to fight
injustice. “I do not
agree with a word you
say, but I will fight to the
death for your right to
say it.” Believed the
perfect government
needed freedom of
speech and of religion.
Philosophes, cont.
• Rousseau – Wrote the
“Social Contract.”
Believed that people
were born good, but
corrupted by the
environment, bad
government, and laws.
He believed the best
government used
POPULAR
SOVEREIGNTY or a
vote by all of the people.
Women and the Enlightenment
• “Free and equal” did
not apply to women
• Mary Wollstonecraft –
1792 – argued in “A
Vindication of the
Rights of Woman,” that
a woman should be
able to decide what
was in her own best
interest – not her
husband or father.
Beccaria
• Argued that
punishments should
not be cruel or brutal
• Opposed capital
punishment
(death penalty)
• “Is is not absurd, that
the laws, which punish
murder, should, in order
to prevent murder,
publicly commit murder
themselves.”
Growth of Constitutional
Government
• “Constitutional government”
• Government whose power is defined and
limited by law.
• British Constitution = Magna Carta, English Bill
of Rights, all Acts of Parliament and unwritten
traditions that protect citizens’ rights.
• British government not totally democratic.
• Oligarchy
• Government in which the ruling power belongs
to a few people.
Causes of the American Revolution
• SEVEN YEARS WAR
(French and Indian War)
• Conflict between the British
and the French in their North
American colonies
• Fought over Ohio River Valley
and Gulf of St. Lawrence.
• Native Americans fought on
the French side.
• American colonists fought on
the British side.
• British win. War EXPENSIVE!
• All French territory in Canada
transferred to the British.
Causes of the American Revolution
(page 539)
The American
Revolution
The War Begins
Foreign Support
and British Defeat.
Causes of the American Revolution
(page 539)
The American
Revolution
The War Begins
Foreign Support and
British Defeat
• French and Indian
War drained British
treasury.
• Stamp Act: Britain
passed and enforced
new tax law on the
colonists
• “No taxation without
representation.”
• Colonists felt
entitled to the rights
of English citizens.
• First Continental
Congress meets in
1774 with 13 colonies
• Fighting begins at
Lexington and
Concord in 1775.
• George Washington
Commander in Chief
• Second Continental
Congress signs the
Declaration of
Independence:
July 4, 1776. Writer =
• Thomas Jefferson
• French supplied arms,
officers and money to
rebels
• Spain and Dutch
Republic entered the war
against Great Britain.
•British surrender in 1781
with Treaty of Paris
• Recognized American
independence
• Americans gain control
of western territory from
Appalachians to
Mississippi River.
Causes of the American Revolution
• British taxed colonies to pay for
French and Indian War.
• Stamp Act (1765) – required that
certain printed materials such as legal
documents, newspapers and playing
cards, carry a stamp saying that a tax
had been paid to Britain.
• Tea Act – Tea could be purchased only
from British merchants and was also
taxed.
• Boston Tea Party
• Intolerable Acts – closed Boston
Harbor, rescinded Massachusetts
charter, quartered troops in private
homes.
• Declaration of Independence
Common Sense and
the Declaration of
Independence
In January of 1776 an
Englishman named Thomas
Paine published a small book
called Common Sense. The book
said all kings in general,
especially George III of England
were bad. The book also stated
that America must be free. This
book became a best-seller. It
made Americans believe that
America should be a free and
independent nation.
Declaration of Independence
• Drafted by Thomas
Jefferson
• People had the right to
“alter or abolish unjust
governments.”
• (Locke)
• Popular sovereignty All
government power comes
from the people.
• King had trampled the
peoples’ natural rights.
• Colonists now had the right
to rebel
Declaration of Independence
Declaration of Independence
• Unalienable Rights
• From the “Declaration of
Independence” written by Thomas
Jefferson in 1776.
“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; that to secure these
Rights, Governments are instituted
among Men, deriving their just Powers
from the Consent of the Governed.”
Declaration of Independence
Grievances against
England listed in the
Declaration of
Independence.
1. Define unalienable rights.
2. What is one example of
such a right?
3. Create a Circle Map of some of the Grievances
listed in the Declaration of Independence. Be
sure to include the date that the Declaration
was signed!
Declaration of Independence
• Text of the Declaration of
Independence –
• http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?ammem/bdsdcc
:@field(DOCID+@lit(bdsdc
c02101))
• Paraphrase of the
Declaration of Independence
• http://www.mrsrobertson.co
m/moderndecofind.htm
Articles of Confederation
Why did the
Articles of
Confederation
Fail?
The Constitution
• Used ideas of Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau and
Voltaire
• Created a Federal Republic
• Government in which power is
divided between the national, or
federal government, and the
states.
• Separation of powers
• Bill of Rights added later.
• Federalist Papers – Writing
campaign to convince American
citizens to ratify the new
Constitution
• George Washington – first President
of the United States of America.
Popular Sovereignty
People
Rule
The people hold
supreme rule –
elected officials
Limited Government
• The power of the
government is limited
by the Constitution.
• The process of creating
laws is set forth in the
Constitution.
• The powers and duties
of all government
branches are
determined by the
Constitution.
Republicanism
• A republic is a nation
governed by elected
representatives.
• These representatives
may be removed from
office by a vote if they
abuse their powers.
Federalism
Federalism: Power
shared between
national and state
governments. National
government takes the
lead in running the
country.
Federal: national
defense, immigration,
foreign policy, national
issues.
State: local education,
licenses, safety, state
taxation, etc.
Separation of Powers
• The main
powers of the
government are
divided.
• There are three
branches of
government.
Federalist Papers
• The Federalist
Papers were a
writing campaign
to convince
American
citizens to ratify
the new
Constitution.
Bill of Rights
• In a number of states,
Federalists won the battle
over ratification only
because they had offered
to support several
amendments to the
Constitution designed to
promote citizen’s rights.
These 10 amendments
came to be called the Bill
of Rights.