AP US History AMSCO Guided Notes
3.4: Philosophical Foundations of the American Revolution
AMSCO Guided Notes
AP US History Guided Notes
AMSCO 3.4 - Philosophical Foundations of the American Revolution
Learning Objectives
- Explain how and why colonial attitudes about government and the individual changed in the years leading up to the American Revolution.
I. Enlightenment Ideas
1. How did Enlightenment thought influence the American colonial leaders who would lead the Revolution?
A. Deism
1. What is Deism and how did this belief differ from traditional Christian views of God's role in human affairs?
B. Rationalism
1. What did Enlightenment rationalists believe about human reason and how did this affect their approach to understanding the world?
C. Social Contract
1. What is the social contract and how did this concept challenge the idea of divine right monarchy?
2. Why did the social contract philosophy have such a profound influence on educated Americans in the 1760s and 1770s?
II. Thomas Paine's Argument for Independence
1. What were the main arguments Thomas Paine made in Common Sense for why the colonies should become independent?
2. How did Paine's approach to writing differ from earlier colonial writers, and why was this effective in spreading support for independence?
3. What role did Common Sense play in widening the divide between the colonies and Great Britain?
III. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES: WHY DID THE COLONIES REBEL?
A. Revolution as a Radical Break
1. What did Progressive historians in the early 20th century believe about the American Revolution and its impact on society?
2. What specific changes did the new American government introduce based on Enlightenment principles?
B. Revolution Before the War
1. According to historians like Bernard Bailyn, when did the major changes associated with the American Revolution actually develop?
2. How do historians who support the "Revolution Before the War" interpretation view the significance of the break from Great Britain?
Key Terms
Enlightenment
Deism
rationalism
social contract
John Locke
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Thomas Paine