Unit prompt
Unit:
From Absolutism to Freedom
Purpose: One Big Idea
The development of individual freedoms during the age of the renaissance and the discovery of new cultures
and philosophies around the world urged scholars to ask questions about human existence on Earth.
Questioning science prompted the questioning of the political establishment leading to a new wave of
philosophies that encouraged the growth of personal freedoms.
Social Studies Standard
SS-HS-1.1.1 Students will compare and contrast
(purposes, sources of power) various forms of
government in the world (e.g., monarchy, democracy,
republic, dictatorship) and evaluate how effective they
have been in establishing order, providing security and
accomplishing common goals.
SS-HS-5.3.2 Students will explain and give examples of
how new ideas and technologies led to an Age of
Exploration by Europeans that brought great wealth to
the absolute monarchies and caused significant political,
economic and social changes (disease, religious ideas,
technologies, new plants/animals, forms of government)
to the other regions of the world.
Relationship to Unit
The strengthening of the monarch in Europe, a
declining economy in France, and a Russia that is still
under the rule of the Mongol Horde, people of
Europe were searching for a new way of life in which
they determined their own fate. However, a free
society was not a society sought by the upper class
which stood firm in its belief that a free government
would lead to a corrupt society.
The age of the renaissance was dominated by
absolute rulers’ who’s right to the throne came
directly from God. However, the discovery new
sciences urged scholars to question the old political
system leading to the development of new types of
governments.
SS-HS-5.1.1 Students will use a variety of tools (e.g.,
The use of primary and secondary sources help
students gain a real life perspective on how the past
primary and secondary sources, data, artifacts) to
analyze perceptions and perspectives (e.g., gender, race, is connected to the present.
region, ethnic group, nationality, age, economic status,
religion, politics, geographic factors) of people and
historical events in the modern world (1500 A.D. to
present) and United States History (Reconstruction to
present).
SS-HS-5.1.2 Students will analyze how history is a series
of connected events shaped by multiple cause and
effect relationships, tying past to present.
The power of the monarch increased, many Kings
and Queens sought to strengthen their power
leading to merchant scholars to question the
legitimacy of the crown. Once this question surfaced
it grew into a middle class movement that led to the
birth of the United States, the collapse of the French
Monarchy, and the development of constitutional
Monarchies.
Lesson Title
Absolute Monarchy
Main Ideas
1. The origins of Absolute Monarchy
2. The growth of Central European kingdoms
3. The differences between Russia and the rest of
Western Europe
Scientific Revolution
1. Circumstances leading to the scientific revolution
2. The importance of the heliocentric theory
3. The connection between politics, religion, and
science.
1. Enlightenment philosophers and their impact on
global society, economic, and government
2. Impact of women on the enlightenment
3. The effect of art and literature on society
Age of Change
American Revolution
1. The American Enlightenment
2. Creating a republic
3. The impact of the American Revolution around
the world
Lesson Title
Absolute Monarchy
Quiz
10 Questions
Points
10
Scientific Revolution
10 Questions
10
Age of Change
10 Questions
10
American Revolution
10 Questions
10
Assessments
Formative (quizzes, worksheets, ect)
Summative (Unit Exam)
ACT Preparation Reading Assignments
Total:
Points
150
50
20
220
Homework
Daily sheet/ Absolute Monarch
Project
Daily Sheet/ Reading
Guide/Experiment
Daily Sheet/ Reading
Guide/Philosophers
Daily Sheet/ Reading Guide/Time
Line
Points
20
10
70
10
World Civilization Daily Sheet
Unit:
From Absolutism to Freedom
Lesson:
Age of Change
Section:
Pages:
Date:
Purpose of the Lesson:
With the spread of the Scientific Revolution, the art of asking questions spread from the sciences to politics, economics,
and culture. Middle class scholars learned that the answers they sought about the universe did not match up with what
governments and the church would have them to believe. So, the question then became, if the establishment is wrong
about science what else may they be wrong about? European thinkers applied the scientific method and reason to laws
that shaped human action with the hope to build a society founded on the basic principle of human rights.
Objectives:
1. Enlightenment philosophers and their impact on global society, economic, and government
2. Impact of women on the enlightenment
3. The effect of art and literature on society
I Can . . .
Understand the basic beliefs of the Enlightened
Philosophies
Discuss the differences between the beliefs of Thomas
Hobbs and John Locke
Describe the effect of the arts on the enlightenment
movement
Analyze the impact of the enlightenment on the rulers
of Europe
Explain the influence of the enlightenment on modern
day politics.
Answer the I can as if it were a question
Essential Question – Answer in no less than 3 sentences
What is the legacy of the Enlightenment?
Terms
Enlightenment
Definition /Significance/ Date
Date:
Definition:
Significance
Social Contract
Date:
Definition:
Significance:
John Locke
Date:
Definition:
Significance:
Thomas Hobbs
Date:
Definition:
Significance:
Philosophe
Date:
Definition:
Significance:
Date:
Definition:
Significance:
Voltaire
Montesquieu
Date:
Definition:
Significance:
Rousseau
Date:
Definition:
Significance:
Procedure:
Day 1
1. Fill out the daily sheet then begin reading the assigned pages while attendance is taken.
2. Class discussion on the objectives and I can statements: How do you think they are related to each other?
3. Class lecture/discussion and the importance of the Enlightenment
4. Discuss possible answers to the Essential Question
5. Class work/Homework – I can Statements, Vocabulary, and reading guide.
Day 2
1. Discuss the ‘I can” Statements and their relationship to the objectives.
2. Work on “Create your Political Philosophy”
4. Answer Essential question through a class discussion
Day 3
1. Work on “Create your Political Philosophy”
Day 4
1. Work on “Create your Political Philosophy” Assignment
Day 5
1. Work on and complete Political philosophy
Day 6
1. Check off work from Lesson 1
2. Lesson Quiz
3. ACT preparation Reading assignment
Assignments:
Points
Daily Sheet/Reading Guide
Lesson Quiz
ACT Preparation Reading Assignment
Create your Political philosophy
10
10
5
50
Due Date
Create your Political Philosophy
Prompt:
Creating a political philosophy is based upon one’s personal beliefs. Do you believe in a strong
government that plays a part in business, culture, and local government, do you believe in a government
that has no role in economics and social issues, or do you believe in a government that is somewhere in
between? That is your task; to create a political philosophy you think best fits your country.
Directions - Part 1
Answer all questions in paragraph form
1. Choose one of the following for a base: John Locke: Thomas Hobbs and Explain your choice’s political
philosophy and the reasoning behind it.
2. Why do your beliefs parallel this philosopher?
3. Explain why you think this philosopher was popular. Give multiple examples to support your answer.
4. Explain why you think this philosopher’s beliefs are relevant today. Give multiple examples to support
your answer.
Directions - Part 2
Answer all questions in paragraph form
1. Choose a political philosopher from the list and explain why the philosopher chosen best represents
your view on government.
2. Give multiple examples from the time period of the philosopher to support your explanation.
Directions - Part 3
Answer all questions in paragraph form
1. Choose a modern day political philosopher from the list given and explain why the philosopher chosen
best represents your view on government.
2. Give multiple modern day examples to support your explanation.
Directions - Part 4
Answer all questions in paragraph form
1. Explain how politics has changed stayed the same, or both since 1750.
2. In what way has the age of the enlightenment shaped modern day politics?
Rubric:
Each part must be fully completed in order to get credit.
Part 1 – 10 pts
Part 2 – 10 pts
Part 3 – 10 pts
Part 4 – 10 pts
Citations – 10 pts (Includes Bibliography and footnotes)
Total – 50 pts
Enlightenment Age Political
philosophers
Benjamin Franklin
Cesare Beccaria
George Washington
Voltaire
Gotthold Lessing
John Hancock
Thomas Jefferson
John Adams
Samuel Adams
Denis Diderot
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Payne
Immanuel Kant
Fredrick the Great
Baron de Montesquieu
François Marie Arouet
Catherine the Great
Adam Smith
Marie-Therese Geoffrin
Abraham Lincoln
David Hume
Mary Wollstonecraft
Abigail Adams
Mary Astell
You may choose a person
not on this list
Edward Gibbon
James Madison
Alexander Hamilton
Aaron Burr
Modern Political philosophers
Karl Marx
Rudolf Giuliani
John Kerry
Barrack Obama
John F. Kennedy
Mike Huckabee
George Bush
Richard Nixon
Oprah Winfrey
Adolf Hitler
You may choose a person
not on this list
John McCain
Glenn Beck
Nancy Pelosi
Vladimir Lenin
Joseph Stalin
Bill Clinton
Tony Blair
Hillary Clinton
Sarah Palin
Karl Rove
Rush Limbaugh
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Winston Churchill
Edward Kennedy
Reading Guide: Age of Change
Directions: Answer all questions in sentence form
1. What are the five concepts formed by the French Philosophes?
2. What advantages did Montesquieu see in the separation of powers?
3. Describe the difference between the social contract of Hobbes and Rousseau.
4. Why was the issue of education important to Mary Wollstonecraft?
5. What important documents reflect the influence of enlightenment ideas?
6. Explain the importance of the solon.
7. What are the defining aspects of neoclassical art?
8. What new form of literature emerged during the 18th century and what were its main characteristics?
9. Why did the enlightenment despots undertake reforms?
10. How accurately does the term enlightened despot describe Catherine the Great?