Chapter 20: The Enlightenment

Magna Carta (Root of American Democracy - How did England contribute to American ideals?)

Magna Carta influenced American traditions with the concept of trial by jury, no taxation without representation!, rule by law, and the beginning to limit the king's power.

Baron de Montesquieu - major contributions

Montesquieu believed that a balanced government was the only way to prevent rulers from becoming despots. His ideal government was composed of three branches. With this division of powers, each branch could balance, or limit, the powers of the other two branches. This would keep any one branch from becoming powerful enough to take away people's freedom.

Adam Smith - Father of? Major contributions?

Adam Smith applied reason to economic questions. Smith published a book called "The Wealth of Nations". In it, he said that the way for a nation to become wealthy was to allow free trade. Smith argued that an economy works best when people are allowed to make their own economic decisions. This concept is called laissez faire.

English Parliament (Root of American Democracy - How did England contribute to American ideals?)

American traditions were impacted by ideas from English Parliament. ex. slowly limiting power of the king over time, advising the king, approving taxes, have a lawmaking body, and have power to replace the king.

Ben Franklin - major contributions

Ben Franklin was one of those who signed the Declaration of Independence. He embodied many of the Enlightenment ideas. Franklin also shared many new ideas of liberty and government.

Colonial Governments - what were they like?

Colonial governments had legislatures. People voted for representatives thought the lawmaking bodies should reflect the will of the people. Colonists were influenced by England and The Enlightenment so the government was based on the will of the people. In colonial governments, the executive and judicial branches balanced the legislative branch. The governor, executive, approved or vetoed laws. The executive theoretically had a lot of power, but the legislative branch found ways to reduce the governors power.

Root of American Democracy - How did England contribute to American ideals?

England influenced American traditions with the ideas of Magna Carta, English Parliament, and The English Bill Of Rights.

Natural rights - What are they? Who came up with them?

John Locke reasoned that by nature people are basically rational. They are born with natural rights, or rights that no government can take from them and the ability to control their own affairs. These natural rights are the rights to life, liberty, and personal property.

English Bill of Rights (Root of American Democracy - How did England contribute to American ideals?)

Limiting the power of English monarchs, the idea that a king can't raise an army or collect taxes, no cruel or unusual punishment or unreasonable fined, and people picking parliament members are all notions from England that have affected American ideals.

John Locke - ideas on the formation of governments? Why do people form governments?

Locke argued that people formed governments to protect their natural rights. If a government did not live up to that purpose, then people had the right to rebel and form a new government. This idea contrasted sharply with the idea of the divine right of kings to rule as absolute monarchs.

Build up to revolution - What led up to the American Revolution? What tensions existed between England and its colonies?

Parliament placed a series of taxes on the colonies. This angered colonies because Parliament violated the right to elect the people who taxed them. After the Stamp Act, the tax on printed items without representation, fighting broke out between the British government and the colonies. The Declaration of Independence was then written a year later by delegates from the colonies in Philadelphia.

Jean Jacques Rousseau - major contributions

Rousseau believed in the idea of having a social contract so the government can protect the people's natural rights. If the government didn't protect natural rights, people had the right to rebel. Because government gets its right to rule by the will of the people, the people who overthrew the king can create a new government.

Social Contract - define it, know it, understand it + who came up with it

Rousseau revived an earlier idea known as the social contract. This was an unwritten agreement between people and their government that describes the rights and duties of each.

Declaration of Independence - Main Ideas? Enlightenment thinkers influence?

The main principles of the Declaration of Independence are: preamble, declaration of natural rights, grievances against the king, and the declaration of independence. The preamble outlines the goals of the document. The declaration of natural rights says people have rights that can't be taken away. The grievances against the king means he has taken away their natural rights. The colonies can separate from England because of The Declaration of Independence.

Voltaire - What did he want others to tolerate?

Voltaire was most passionate in his writings about religion and the need for tolerance. Having seen the damage caused by religious wars, he argued that Christians should be tolerant of people with other beliefs.

Mary Wollstonecraft - Major beliefs? Major contributions?

Wollstonecraft believed that men and women were equal in their ability to reason. It was only their lack of education that kept women in a state of "ignorance and slavish dependence." She called for "a revolution in female manners." That revolution began with education so that women would be able to take their place in society as the equals of men.