The Enlightenment and the American Revolution

Vocabulary

baroque A grand and complex artistic style

oligarchy A government in which the ruling power belongs to a few people

laissez faire A policy that allows businesses to operate without government interference

salon A social gathering in which artists and thinkers exchange ideas

social contract An agreement by which people give up their natural state for an organized society

Voltaire “I do not agree with a word you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Adam Smith “There should be no government regulations on trade.”

Jean-Jacques Rousseau “Man is born free, but is everywhere in chains.”

Baron de Montesquieu “In order to have liberty, it is necessary that the powers of the government be separated.”

Thomas Paine “It is against all reason to suppose that this Continent can long remain subject to any external power.”

natural laws According to Hobbes and Locke, human nature was governed by natural laws.

constitutional government The powers of a constitutional government are defined and limited by law.

physiocrat A physiocrat believed that natural laws could be used to define economic systems.

natural rights Life, liberty, and property are examples of natural rights.

enlightened despot Joseph II was an enlightened despot because he used Enlightenment ideas to bring about political and social change.

The Enlightenment and the American Revolution

Critical Thinking/Main Ideas

Thinkers during the Age of Reason challenged the established social order by calling for a just society based on reason.

Joseph II adopted Enlightenment ideas to improve the life of his people.

The Tory party in Britain was made up primarily of landowning aristocrats.

A new feature of English government in the late 1700s was a cabinet.

American resentment of British rule increased after 1763 over taxation without representation in Parliament.

The Declaration of Independence clearly reflects the ideas of John Locke.

Montesquieu believed the purpose of the separation of powers was to protect the liberties of the people.

The Enlightenment had little effect on the lives of European peasants.

Britain’s strong navy helped it become a global power in the 1700s.

Only male property owners had the right to vote in Britain in the 1700s.

Trade within the colonies of the British empire was controlled by Great Britain.

The statement “No taxation without representation” was partly influenced by the thinking of John Locke.

Why was Locke’s belief that governments exist to serve the people considered a radical idea? Up until the Enlightenment, governments existed to serve the needs of the ruler, not “the people.” Locke felt that the people have a right to overthrow a government that fails its obligations or violates people’s rights.

How did King George III and his advisers help bring about the American Revolution? King George and his advisers decided that English colonists in North America must pay the cost of their own defense, and for the troops stationed on the frontier. Britain began to enforce laws regulating colonial trade, and passed new laws to increase the taxes paid by colonists.