Enlightenment

What was the Enlightenment?

An 18th-century intellectual movement emphasizing reason, individual rights, and progress.

What were the main values of the Enlightenment?

Reason, liberty, equality, secularism, and progress.

What is the nickname for the Enlightenment?

The Age of Reason.

Who was John Locke?

An English philosopher who argued for natural rights: life, liberty, and property.

What did John Locke believe about government?

That government should protect natural rights and be based on the consent of the governed.

Who was Thomas Hobbes?

An English thinker who believed people needed a strong ruler to maintain order (author of Leviathan).

What did Hobbes believe about human nature?

That people are naturally selfish and need absolute rule to prevent chaos.

Who was Montesquieu?

A French thinker who supported the separation of powers into three branches of government.

What were the three branches Montesquieu supported?

Legislative, executive, and judicial.

Who was Voltaire?

A French writer and philosopher who championed freedom of speech, religion, and tolerance.

What did Rousseau believe about society?

That society corrupts people and that government should reflect the general will of the people (The Social Contract).

Who was Mary Wollstonecraft?

An English advocate for women’s rights and education (A Vindication of the Rights of Woman).

What was the Enlightenment’s impact on government?

It inspired democracy, limited monarchies, and revolutions (e.g., American & French Revolutions).

What was the Enlightenment’s view on religion?

Many thinkers promoted secularism and religious tolerance.

How did the Enlightenment influence the American Revolution?

Ideas of Locke and Montesquieu shaped the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

How did the Enlightenment influence the French Revolution?

It promoted the ideas of liberty, equality, and popular sovereignty against absolute monarchy.

What was a salon in Enlightenment Europe?

A social gathering where intellectuals discussed ideas about society, philosophy, and politics.

What role did Diderot play in the Enlightenment?

He edited the Encyclopédie, spreading Enlightenment ideas across Europe.