1. Enlightenment: T hinkers believed that human progress was possible through the application of scientific knowledge and reason to issues of law and government. I deas influenced the leaders of the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence.

2. The Enlightenment  Applied reason to the human world, not just the natural world  Stimulated religious tolerance  Fueled democratic revolutions around the world

3. Thomas Hobbes  Leviathan- The state must have central authority to manage behavior

4. John Locke  Two Treatises on Government- People are sovereign; monarchs are not chose by God

5. Montesquieu  The Spirit of Laws- The best form of government includes a separation of powers

6. Jean-Jacques Rousseau  The Social Contract- Government is a contract between rulers and the people.

7. Voltaire  Religious toleration should triumph over religious fanaticism; separation of church and state

8. Influence of the Enlightenment  Political philosophies of the Enlightenment fueled revolution in the Americas and France  Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence incorporated Enlightenment ideas  The Constitution of the United States of America and Bill of Rights incorporated Enlightenment Ideas