THE ENLIGHTENMENT

Give your hand a break- write what is in BLUE!

THOMAS HOBBES English Philosophe lived through the English Civil War Wrote Leviathan – Social Contract – the exchange of individual liberty for group safety and social order

THE SOCIAL CONTRACT Definition: The idea of the social contract is one of the foundations of the American political system. This is the belief that the state (government) only exists to serve the will of the people, and they are the source of all political power enjoyed by the state. They can choose to give or withhold this power.

JOHN LOCKE English Philosophe – he accepted the social Contract theory but he felt there were some rights people did not give up Two Treatises of Government – Man has individual, natural rights that must be protected and are superior to laws and governments Governments exist only to protect those rights Those rights are life, liberty, and the ability to own property Believes man is inherently good Ruler who denies individuals’ natural rights could be overthrown

BARON DE MONTESQUIEU The Spirit of the Laws – He describes the perfect government: 3 branches – Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Checks and Balances

VOLTAIRE Francois-Marie Arouet – French writer Philosophical Letters “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it” Freedom of Speech

JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU The Social Contract People are naturally good Government should be based on popular sovereignty—this is the idea that power lies with the people and a country’s government should be created and controlled by the people

MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT Enlightenment ideals of equality should be extended to women

WHY THEY’RE IMPORTANT: U.S. CONNECTION Which ideas within the Enlightenment show up in American Revolutionary Thought? Montesquieu’s checks and balances and 3 branches of government Locke’s ideas of natural rights (modified by Thomas Jefferson to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) Voltaire’s ideas of personal freedoms Rousseau’s ideas that government should be created and controlled by the people Much later, Wollstonecraft’s women’s rights appear, though not during the American Revolution Some women’s rights begin to be fought for in the mid 1800s In 1920, women in the U.S. earn the right to vote The concept of a social contract, especially as stated by Locke