Enlightenment

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/enlightenment

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 historical context?Followed the Renaissance and Reformation, preceding the Romantic era
2. What is the key philosophical movements?Rationalism, empiricism, deism, and humanism
3. Why did Enlightenment thinkers care about individual rights?They believed people have natural rights to life, liberty, and property, and that governments should get permission from the people.
4. How did the Enlightenment influence the American Revolution?Ideas about liberty, equality, and a social contract helped people in America form a new republic.

Skepticism: A questioning attitude towards knowledge or beliefs, demanding evidence.
Secularism: The principle of separating religious institutions from state affairs.
Popular Sovereignty: The principle that the authority of a state is created and sustained by the consent of its people.