Key Vocabulary & Concepts
This term means the belief that rulers receive their power directly from God.
What is the Divine Right of Kings?
He believed people are born with natural rights — life, liberty, and property.
Who is John Locke?
What does “popular sovereignty” mean?
That government’s power comes from the consent of the governed.
This 1215 document was the first to limit the power of the English king.
What is the Magna Carta?
What was the Stamp Act?
A tax on printed materials in the American colonies.
The idea that government powers are restricted by laws and must protect citizens’ rights.
What is Limited Government?
This philosopher argued people are naturally selfish and need a strong ruler to keep order.
Who is Thomas Hobbes?
What Enlightenment thinker’s ideas most influenced the Declaration of Independence?
Who is John Locke?
What was the main issue that caused the English Civil War?
Conflict between the king and Parliament over who held power.
What was Thomas Paine’s main argument in Common Sense (1776)?
That the colonies should declare independence from Britain.
The belief that a government’s right to rule comes from the consent of its citizens.
What is Popular Sovereignty?
Who wrote The Social Contract and believed that government must follow the “general will” of the people?
Who is Jean-Jacques Rousseau?
What document first argued that governments must protect people’s natural rights?
What is the Declaration of Independence?
Which English document (1689) guaranteed citizens’ rights to petition and fair trials?
What is the English Bill of Rights?
According to the Declaration of Independence, what can people do if the government becomes abusive?
They can alter or abolish it and form a new one.
An economic system where the government stays out of business and trade decisions.
What is Laissez-Faire Economics?
She argued that women should receive the same education as men.
Who is Mary Wollstonecraft?
How did Enlightenment ideas challenge absolute monarchy?
They argued power should come from the people, not divine right.
How did the Magna Carta and English Bill of Rights influence American colonists?
They inspired demands for limited government and individual rights.
What are the three “unalienable rights” listed in the Declaration of Independence?
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
The Enlightenment idea that people have rights to life, liberty, and property that cannot be taken away.
What are Natural Rights?
This writer and philosopher promoted freedom of religion and speech, and criticized intolerance.
Who is Voltaire?
What does the “social contract” say about the relationship between the government and the people?
That governments exist to protect people’s rights; if they fail, citizens can change or overthrow them.
How does “rule of law” help prevent tyranny?
It means everyone, including leaders, must obey the law.
After which war did Britain begin taxing the American colonies to recover war costs?
What is the Seven Years’ War (or French and Indian War)?