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

   Which book did Rousseau publish in 1762, Jun asks?

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

   What did Locke argue government needs, Kira asks?

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

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

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

   What does consent of the governed mean, Milo asks?

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

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

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

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

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

   Which of the three books came first, Tala asks?

   • Rousseau's Social Contract, from 1762
   • Montesquieu's Spirit of Laws, from 1748
   • They came out in one year
   • Locke's Two Treatises
10. 9.

    Why would separating powers protect people, Zee asks?

    • No one holds every power
    • One ruler could act faster with all the power
    • Judges would make all the laws themselves
    • It would end the need for laws
11. 10.

    Bo's friend says all three thinkers had the same idea. Which reply fits the cards?

    • Agree: each wrote about separation of powers
    • Not quite: each card gives a different idea
    • Disagree: they wrote about farming
    • Agree: the three wrote the same book