MODERN WORLD HISTORY-GREEN

Enlightenment: mid-1600’s to late 1700’s

Unit Objectives & Assignments

Why are we studying this unit?

1. The Enlightenment was the continuation of ideas & principles introduced by

the Renaissance and the Scientific Revolution that first broke with the medieval
ways of thinking. Together, these three movements helped usher Western
Europe into the modern era by asserting the use of reason, secularism and
natural rights as the basis of society.
2. Enlightenment philosophes wrote several important works that would later
influence the leaders of the French Revolution, the Founding Fathers of the
United States and even Japanese farmers at the end of the Tokugawa
Shogunate.
3. The ideals of the Enlightenment serve as the foundation of our course. We will
return to these principles throughout the year in our quest to understand the
meaning of a “modern society,” as well as during our research project
regarding the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.
Essential Questions

1. Are the ideals of the Enlightenment the foundation of a modern society?

2. How and in what ways are the ideals of the Enlightenment reflected in the U.N. Millennium
Declaration & the Millennium Development Goals?
Objectives

By the end of this unit you should be able to:

1. State the goals of the Enlightenment.
2. State the ideals of the Enlightenment.
3. Recognize and explain direct quotations from the writings of Paine, Diderot and
Condorcet.
4. Identify the following Enlightenment thinkers & describe how each challenged
authority:
• Paine
• Diderot
• Condorcet
• Locke
• Voltaire
• Montesqieu
• Smith
• Wollstonecraft
5. Determine whether the ideals of Enlightenment are the foundation of a modern
society.
6. Analyze how and in what ways the ideals of the Enlightenment are reflected in
the U.N. Millennium Declaration and Millennium Development Goals.
 Assessments

1. In-class journal entry that addresses question #1.

2. Take-home essay that addresses essential question #2.
3. In-class 20-25 question multiple choice quiz on objectives 1-4
Assignment Date due
Monday, 9/8 Tuesday, 9/9
1. Read “The Enlightenment” QOD: After reading Paine, what
introduction. ideals do you think the
2. Read the “Attack on Religion” Enlightenment was trying to
introduction & the introduction to promote and why?
and excerpt from Thomas Paine’s
The Age of Reason.
Tuesday, 9/9 Wednesday, 9/10
1. Read the “Compendium of QOD: What do you think Diderot
Knowledge” introduction & the was trying to achieve with the
introduction to and excerpt from Encyclopedia?
Diderot’s Encyclopedia.
Wednesday, 9/10 Friday, 9/12
1. Read the “On the Progress of QOD: What was Condorcet’s
Humanity” introduction & the vision for the world? Is it
introduction to and excerpt from attainable?
Marquis de Condorcet’s Sketch.
Friday, 9/12 & Monday, 9/15 Tuesday, 9/16
1. Prepare for in-class journal entry
that answers EQ #1.
2. Prepare for MC quiz on Objectives
#1-4.
Tuesday, 9/16 Wednesday, 9/17
1. Read the Introduction to the QOD: What do you think the
United Nations at the following purpose of the United Nations is?
link:
http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolB
us/
unintro/unintro.asp
2. Take notes on the following:
• When, why and by whom the
United Nations was formed.
• Principles outlined in the U.N.
Charter & Declaration of
Human Rights.
• How the General Assembly and
Security Council work.
Wednesday, 9/17 Thursday, 9/18
1. Read the excerpts from the QOD: What is the tone of this
 “United Nations Millennium declaration?
Declaration.”
Thursday, 9/18 Thursday, 9/25
1. Begin working on take-home
essay that answers EQ #2.