1. The Enlightenment and the American Revolutionary War
The Super-short version

2. The Enlightenment in Action….
Our founding fathers studied the works of Montesquieu, Locke, Rosseau, etc.
Also studied Magna Carta, English Bill of Rights, etc.
Conclusion… “No taxation without representation.”
They felt “Mother England” and King George III were breaking the ideas of the Philosophers.

3. Please write the following dates down the left side of your Cornell notes and skip lines between each date…
1765 (3 lines)
1775 (2 lines)
1776 (6 lines)
1781 (2 lines)
1783 (2 lines)
1787 (6 lines)
1791 (3 lines)

4. 1765
English Parliament passes the Stamp Act (a TAX!) the first of many taxes to help Britain raise money to pay their war debts
Colonists boycott British goods in protest
Led to more taxes and protests

5. 1775
Lexington and Concord
First battles between Redcoats (British) and Minutemen (Americans)
War begins

6. Retreat from Concord

7. 1776 Thomas Paine’s Common Sense published
Urged Americans to support independence
Declaration of Independence signed
July 4, 1776
Written by Thomas Jefferson
Since shots have been fired, we need something to fight for
Locke’s ideas of natural rights (Life, Liberty, Property) and government gets power from the people are written in
If unjust ruler, people can overthrow

8. Declaration of Independence shows the drafting committee presenting its work to the Congress. By John Trumbull, 1819.

9. 1781
War drags on for 5 years.
Americans use guerilla tactics against larger British force.
Famous Battles were Yorktown and New York
France steps in to help America since France hates the British.

10. 1783 Peace talks begin in Paris
Americans send John Adams, John Jay and Ben Franklin
Treaty of Paris was signed, war ends.

11. 1787 The Constitution is created and passed.
It’s the framework for a US Gov’t created by the people (Locke!)
Written by James Madison – father of the Constitution
The Federal System – power shared between federal and state governments
Three Branches – Executive, Legislative, and Judicial (Montesquieu!)
Checks and Balances - to keep from having too much power (Montesquieu!)
Example: president vetoing a law

12. 1791 Bill of Rights passed (1st Ten Amendments to the Constitution)
Gave more rights to people the Constitution left out (Locke)
Speech, Religion, Press, Petition, Assembly (Voltaire)
Own a Gun
No Housing of Troops
No Search and Seizure (without a warrant)
Due Process
Rights in Criminal Cases
Rights in Civil Cases
No Cruel or Unusual Punishment (Beccaria)
Rights of the People (Locke)
Rights of the State

13. Summary
Write no less than 4 sentences summarizing what ways the Philosophers influenced the American Revolution