Enlightenment thinkers and their ideas about rights and government

Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   John Locke

   Who made it: historians writing today. When: today. Where: Europe. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what research has found. Summary in our words, not a quotation: John Locke, an English thinker, published Two Treatises of Government in December 1689 (its title page says 1690). He argued for natural rights and for government by the consent of the governed. Source card "Montesquieu". Who made it: historians writing today. When: today. Where: Europe. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what research has found. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Montesquieu, a French thinker, published The Spirit of Laws in 1748; Thomas Nugent's English translation followed in 1750. He is the main source of the idea of the separation of powers. Source card "Jean-Jacques Rousseau". Who made it: historians writing today. When: today. Where: Europe. For whom: readers today. Why: to sum up what research has found. Summary in our words, not a quotation: Rousseau, a thinker from Geneva, published The Social Contract in 1762. He argued that only the general will of the people has the right to make laws.

2. 1.

   Which thinker is the main source of the separation of powers, Esme asks?

   • Montesquieu
   • John Locke, the English thinker
   • Louis XIV of France
   • Rousseau, the thinker from Geneva
3. 2.

   Which book did Rousseau publish in 1762, Jun asks?

   • The Spirit of Laws, a book on liberty
   • Two Treatises of Government
   • The Sidereal Messenger
   • The Social Contract
4. 3.

   What did Locke argue government needs, Kira asks?

   • The consent of the governed
   • Nothing from the people
   • The power of one king with no limits
   • A general will that no one can define
5. 4.

   Luz reads the words separation of powers. What do they mean?

   • One person makes, carries out and judges laws
   • Each town makes its own coins
   • The king splits his land among his children
   • Different people make, carry out and judge laws
6. 5.

   What does consent of the governed mean, Milo asks?

   • The people agree to be governed
   • The ruler agrees to rule forever
   • Traders agree on prices
   • Judges agree to stop working
7. 6.

   Noah reads the words natural rights. What are natural rights?

   • Rights people have just by being people
   • Rules for a game
   • Rights a king may hand out and take back at will
   • Rights to use rivers and forests
8. 7.

   How many years after The Spirit of Laws was The Social Contract published, Pia asks?

   • 3,510 years
   • 2 years
   • 14 years
   • 140 years
9. 8.

   Locke's book is dated 1690. How many years later did The Spirit of Laws appear, Ren asks?

   • 14 years
   • 5 years
   • 58 years
   • 3,438 years
10. 9.

    Which of the three books came first, Tala asks?

    • They came out in one year
    • Montesquieu's Spirit of Laws, from 1748
    • Locke's Two Treatises
    • Rousseau's Social Contract, from 1762
11. 10.

    Why would separating powers protect people, Zee asks?

    • One ruler could act faster with all the power
    • It would end the need for laws
    • No one holds every power
    • Judges would make all the laws themselves