1. The Enlightenment

2. Rationalism - is the belief in reason and logic as the main path to knowledge

3. The Enlightenment: a period from the late 1600s to the late 1700s in Europe, in which people changed their outlook on life.
People began to place their trust in reason and observation as the best sources of understanding and progress.
People also began to reject authority so they could think for themselves

4. Enlightenment philosophers preferred rational thought to faith based on the Bible, though most of them continued to believe in God.

5. Enlightenment thinkers questioned foundations of religion, and government.
This led to many clashes with accepted beliefs and the ruling powers who upheld them.

6. Christian faith was based on trust in the Bible as God’s word
Christian faith was based on trust in the Bible as God’s word. Enlightenment thinkers believed that humans were able to discover truth for themselves.

7. Divine Right- The belief that kings and queens were chosen by God as rulers.
Enlightenment thinkers criticized the idea of Divine Right

8. Natural Rights include life, liberty and property.
Person
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Ideas
John Locke
Natural Rights- rights that are given to every person by nature, simply because they are human.
Natural Rights include life, liberty and property.
People have the right to overthrow a ruler who does not protect their rights

9. This led to the creation of three branches of government in America.
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Idea
Montesquieu
Created the idea of separation of powers so that one ruler does not have all the power
This led to the creation of three branches of government in America.

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Branches of government

11. Person
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Idea
Voltaire
Believed that kings and queens should not be able to choose the religion for all the people in a country
Freedom of religion

12. The ideas of the Enlightenment greatly influenced leaders of the American Revolution.
The Declaration of Independence echoed Locke’s ideas on natural rights and the social contract.
The U.S. Constitution also contains ideas from the Enlightenment. The Constitution includes Montesquieu’s idea of separation of powers.
The Bill of Rights protects the freedoms of religion and speech championed by Voltaire.