Unit 2 Study Guide
Absolute Monarchs/Age of Enlightenment
The study guide must be turned in when you finish your test.

Test Structure
15 Multiple Choice Questions
7 Short Answer Questions – You must answer 5 of them.
3 Essay Responses – You must answer 1 of them.

Important Terms
Please define and give a significance for the following terms…
Hint: You can look to your textbook glossary for these definitions, but often times those definitions are too complicated for our purposes. Instead, look in your notes and lesson packet for simplified and shorter definitions. Some of these words can be defined in a word or a phrase.

1. Divine Right

2. Absolute Monarchy

3. Constitutional Monarchy

4. English Bill of Rights – What are two things a king could NOT do in England once this document is passed? (page 183)

5. Glorious Revolution

6. Social contract

7. Enlightened despot

8. Scientific Revolution

Important Concepts
Answer the following questions completely.

9. Describe the Palace of Versailles using descriptive language. What was the political significance or purpose behind the palace?

10. Describe two reasons why Spain lost much of its power and influence during this time period.

11. List three key results from the Thirty Years War. (page 170)

12. Discuss two ways that Ivan the Terrible showed absolute power in Russia.

13. Charles II was a product of generations of inbreeding. Why would European monarchs tend to marry people inside of their own family?

14. What were differences between the economies of Central & Western Europe by the mid 1600s? (page 171)

15. Define westernization and name the monarch responsible for the policy in Russia. Additionally, name three ways that westernization was employed in this country.

16. List and describe three core ideas of the Enlightenment (hint: see your notes page with the five boxes)

17. Explain the differences between the heliocentric and geocentric views of the universe. Why did the promotion of the heliocentric theory cause such a reaction from the Catholic Church?

18. Describe the differences between Thomas Hobbes and John Locke on how government should be structured.

19. Explain John Locke’s influence on the American Declaration of Independence of 1776.

20. Explain how John Locke’s ideas influenced the American colonists’ decision to attempt to overthrow their government in England.

21. Explain how the Founding Fathers used Baron de Montesqieu’s ideas in writing the Constitution. What was the purpose behind implementing these ideas?

PHILOSOPHE NAME / IDEAS AND IMPACT ON THE UNITED STATES
People are greedy and cruel, need an absolute monarch to provide law and order in society; without government, life would be short
JOHN LOCKE
VOLTAIRE
JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU
BARON DE MONTESQUIEU
No cruel and unusual punishment, punishment should meet the crime, right to a speedy trial

Essay Questions

These three questions will be the ones offered on the test. You will only be required to answer one of them. For your study guide, you do not have to answer these questions.

  1. Define and explain the concepts of absolutism and divine right, and explain the impact of absolutism on European society using two examples of absolute monarchs studied in class.
  2. Discuss three ways that the Catholic Church lost power and influence in European society, connecting events from the Renaissance and Reformation to the Enlightenment.
  3. Define the historical period of Enlightenment. Include in your definition at least two of the core beliefs of the Enlightenment. Additionally, select two of the following Enlightenment thinkers and analyze the person’s philosophical beliefs on Government, economic, society, or science.

Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Voltaire, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Baron de Montesquieu, Cesare Beccaria

USE YOUR NOTES, DAILY WORK, AND BELLRINGERS TO PREPARE FOR THE TEST
AND FIND ANSWERS ON THE STUDY GUIDE.