The Enlightenment and the Age of Revolution
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe the Enlightenment and the influence it had on the world.
Key learning points
- The Enlightenment was a series of ideas that criticised absolutist governments.
- The Enlightenment inspired groups of people to challenge their governments.
- The American Revolution was inspired by Enlightened ideas.
- The French Revolution was inspired by the Americans and Enlightenment ideas.
- The Enlightenment ideas inspired further revolutions across the world.
Keywords
Enlightenment - the Enlightenment was a movement in the 1600s and 1700s that promoted the use of reason and questioned authority
Social contract - a social contract is an agreement that rulers should govern in a way that benefits the people in exchange for having power over them
Revolution - a revolution is the forcible overthrow of a government, a great or complete change
Settlers - settlers are people who have arrived to live in a new area of land
Ancien Régime - the Ancien Régime was the name for the political and social system in France before the Revolution, ruled by the monarch: King Louis XVI
Common misconception
The Enlightenment did not just cause the American Revolution, it played a major role in the causation of the French and Haitian Revolutions too.
Teacher tip
Encourage students to see the disruptive influence of Enlightenment ideas as a thread that runs through all three revolutions discussed in this lesson, rather than just the initial cause of a 'chain' of revolutions during this period.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.The founders of the French Republic founded their new country along similar lines to the Americans, calling for freedom, and fraternity.
Q2.Which European monarchies fought against the new French republic?
Q3.The Caribbean island known as Saint-Domingue was a __________ colony.
Q4.Which of these statements best describes the population of Saint-Domingue in the 1790s?
Q5.The leader of the Haitian Revolution was Touissaint...
Q6.The Haitian revolution did inspire other enslaved peoples to rise up and revolt in other Caribbean islands such as Jamaica and...
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.True or false?: philosophers who were part of the Enlightenment movement criticised absolutist governments and monarchs.
Q2.Put these revolutions in chronological order, starting with the earliest.
Q3.Approximately how many enslaved Africans were captive in the French colony of Saint Domingue?
Q4.What did the Enlightenment inspire people to do?
Q5.The Enlightenment led to the execution of the French king, Louis XVI, in what year?
Q6.What is the term given to a country without a monarch?
To help you plan your 8 history lesson on: The Enlightenment and the Age of Revolution, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 8 history lesson on: The Enlightenment and the Age of Revolution, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 3 history lessons from the The Enlightenment: what was the Enlightenment? unit, dive into the full secondary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.