Unit 2: The American Revolution

Course Themes

● cultural diffusion● multiple perspective● power structures

Unit Question

● Was the American Revolution truly revolutionary?

Unit Topics

1. The Enlightenment2. Causes of the Revolution3. The American Revolution 4. Declaration of Independence

*Notebook check and test next week on Unit 1 and Unit 2

The Enlightenment: Review

What was the Enlightenment?

The Enlightenment

● European cultural movement during the 17th and 18th centuries

● emphasized reason, logic, and science over traditions

The Enlightenment Match-Up

Francis Bacon

● scientific method = hypothesis observation, experimentation

K

Isaac Newton

● gravity● laws of motion

N

Rene Descartes

● “I think, therefore I am”- rationalism

● cartesian coordinates

L

John Locke

● natural rights ● men as able ● tabula rasa (blank

slate)

M

Voltaire

● freedom of religion, freedom

● separation of church and state

H

Cesare Beccaria

● condemned torture and the death penalty

B

Denis Diderot

● the first Encyclopedia ○ abundance of

knowledge in one place

A

Thomas Hobbes

● social contract through absolute monarchy

J

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

● social contract through direct democracy

D

Baron de Montesquieu

● three branches of government

● separation of powers

G

Mary Wollstonecraft

● A Vindication of the Rights of Woman

● men and women equal○ education issue

E

Adam Smith

● Wealth of Nations● laissez-faire = hands

off government

I

Nicolaus Copernicus

● heliocentricity = Earth revolves around the sun

F

Galileo Galilei

● father of modern physics and astronomy

C

The Enlightenment and the Revolution

● question traditional authority by emphasizing human reason

● revolutionary leaders, such as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, influenced by Enlightenment philosophy

Salons in Europe

Why were coffeehouses important in the Enlightenment?

Do they have the same purpose today?

Enlightenment Songs

1. read through each song2. use the post-it notes to annotate each song

a. write what the song tells you about the Enlightenment figure

b. bullet points are fine3. take your post-its and put them on the back

of your Match-up sheet (these are your notes for this section)