Name:_______________________________________________________
Block: __________
The Enlightenment
The Enlightenment was a period in time where individuals began to try
and find the reasons and explanations for all that happened around them.
Essential Questions:
1. How did ideas about science and government change during the Enlightenment?
 Who was Isaac Newton and what was his contribution to science?
 Who was Renee Descartes and why was he considered the father of philosophy?
 How did Thomas Hobbes’ and John Locke’s view of human nature differ?
 Why did Hobbes believe in the need for a strong governing authority?
 What was John Locke’s belief in education and government? What was “tabula rasa”?
2. How did the ideas of the Enlightenment affect societies throughout the world?
 What was the influence of the Enlightenment on the beginnings of the United States?
 Identify ideas and figures of the Enlightenment that influenced the American colonies’ push
for Independence?
 Who was Thomas Jefferson and why did he believe in the idea of “natural rights” in the
Declaration of Independence?
The Enlightenment Vocabulary
Please include the following words in your picture dictionary:
 Cogito ergo sum
 Tabula rasa
 Plague
 Declaration of Independence
 Gravity
 Utopia
 Philosophy
 Clergy
 Pessimist
 Pseudonym
 Authoritarian
 Censorship
 Radical
 Separation of Powers