Exploring Enlightenment Ideas and Their Role in Revolutions
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This worksheet examines different interpretations of how Enlightenment ideas contributed to revolutions, encouraging students to compare historian perspectives and evaluate their arguments.
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Exploring Enlightenment Ideas and Their Role in Revolutions
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Interpretations of Enlightenment Ideas and Their Impact on Revolutions
Historian A: John Doe – Economic Perspective "John Doe argues that Enlightenment ideas primarily influenced revolutions through their impact on economic thought. He emphasizes that the Enlightenment promoted ideas of free trade, individual rights to property, and opposition to absolute monarchy, which challenged existing economic structures. These ideas inspired revolutionary leaders to seek economic independence and reform, leading to upheavals such as the American and French Revolutions. Doe suggests that economic motivations, driven by Enlightenment principles, were central to the revolutionary movements, as they sought to establish economic freedom and challenge aristocratic control."
Historian B: Jane Smith – Social Perspective "Jane Smith contends that Enlightenment ideas mainly influenced revolutions by transforming social attitudes. She highlights that the Enlightenment promoted ideals of equality, popular sovereignty, and the dignity of the individual. These ideas undermined traditional social hierarchies and encouraged people to demand political participation and rights. Smith argues that revolutionary leaders capitalized on these social ideas to mobilize the masses, leading to widespread demands for social change. She believes that the social changes inspired by Enlightenment thought were the primary drivers of revolutionary unrest and transformation."
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- Created
- 1/1/2026
- Updated
- 1/1/2026
- Type
- worksheet