18th century

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/18th-century

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the chronological span?1 January 1701 – 31 December 1800
2. What is the defining intellectual movement?The Enlightenment, characterized by reason, humanism, and challenges to traditional authority
3. What was the Enlightenment and why was it important?The Enlightenment was a time when thinkers like Locke, Rousseau, and Montesquieu used reason to question kings and promote ideas of natural rights and the separation of powers. It helped people think about fairness and freedom.
4. Why did the American Revolution happen?The American Revolution began because the thirteen colonies wanted to be free from British rule and to live according to Enlightenment ideas of liberty and equality. They fought from 1775 to 1783 and became a republic.

Social Contract Theory: The idea that governments derive their legitimacy from the consent of the governed.
Mechanization: The process of replacing human or animal labor with machines.
Mercantilism: An economic policy focused on maximizing exports and accumulating wealth through trade surpluses.
Atlantic Revolutions: A wave of major political upheavals in the late 18th century, including the American and French Revolutions.