Revolution Vocabulary History

The Revolutions

To me, a revolution is an attempt to overthrow political leaders or the government.

Honors World History Period 5

By Sienna Pillsbury

Wednesday, August 28, 13

Magna Carta

The Magna Carta was written for the country of England in the year 1215. It was written to establish that the government had to go through parliament before taxing people, and also that the government was NOT above the law. Before this, there was no official form of law in this country. This set in place a solid set of

rules for the first time.


Glorious Revolution

The glorious revolution took place in England, but was against the government of the English,

Welsh, and Scottish societies. At the beginning of the revolution, King James ll was the king of England. When the revolution ended, the new

leaders installed were King William lll and Queen Mary ll. The document created as a result was

the English Bill of Rights.


The�� English�� Bill�� RightsThe English Bill of Rights was written and

passed in 1689. It was made to limit the

power of the monarch. The royals were no

longer allowed to interfere with the law, tax

people, ban people from using guns, and

many other things.


The Enlightenment

The age of enlightenment took place in the 17th and 18th centuries. It started in Europe, but slowly

worked its way towards America. The Enlightenment was basically a time where people were encouraged to break away from the ideas of

the church. During this period, many new and exciting ideas came into play that we used as

stepping stones for today’s technologies. I think that if it were not for this movement, we would be

much less advanced in many fields.


Charles-Louis Montesquieu

Montesquieu was born in Aquitaine, which is a city in the southwest of France. He was a

philosopher who had many great works, but he is most likely best-known for his theory of the

separation of powers. Back then, government was controlled by only one group. His idea was new,

but over the years people started to accept it more and more. The framers of the US

constitution even used this idea.


John LockeJohn Locke was a philosopher and physician from

Somerset, England. He lived a total of 72 years, which was pretty long for someone during that time. He came up with

the philosophy of natural rights. This states that every person has certain unalienable rights that include: life, liberty, and the pursuit of property(which is often replaced by the pursuit of happiness). The second part of this theory is that all men


Jean Jacques Rousseau

Rousseau was born in the Republic of Geneva in 1712. He lived a total of 66

years (dying in 1778). The social contract is a principle that states that both the

government and the governed (the people) have certain rights and duties. This

contract helps keep up a healthy and successfully run society.


Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson was born in Shadwell, Virginia in 1743. The most important document that Jefferson

wrote during his career was our country’s Declaration of Independence. In the Declaration, it is stated that

everyone has the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” This was taken from Locke’s original idea, but modified so as to say happiness instead of property. Jefferson decided to do this to broaden the idea and open up more opportunities within that statement.


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Revolution Vocabulary History