Enlightenment Age of Reason

An intellectual movement in the 18th century that stressed the power of individuals to solve problems

He proposed that all people are born free and equal, with three natural rights: life, liberty, and property. He believed that the natural rights of humans are best protected in representative governments. He wrote that the power of government should be limited by the will of the people.

John Locke

A French Philosopher (1694-1778) and satirist who fought separation of church and state

Voltaire

A French writer who studied political liberty and developed the idea of separation of powers within government in order to prevent absolute monarchs like Louis XVI from seizing control of an entire nation of people. Believed in checks and balances

Montesquieu

A French essayist who believed that government was a contract between the people and the state. He wrote the Social Contract

Rousseau

Believed that people were naturally wicked and that an absolute monarchy is best to control people. Wrote the Leviathan (sea monster)

Hobbes