Enlightenment Thinkers and Founding Fathers

Objective: Students will understand the major developments of Enlightenment philosophy and their influence on the founding of the United States.

Materials: Bags for Mary Wollstonecraft, Olympe de Gouges, Baron de Montesquieu, John Locke, and Jean-Jaques Rousseau with objects reflecting the life, philosophy, and influence on founding documents of the United States of America. (Each bag should contain objects providing clues to the philosopher’s place of origin, another key feature of his/her life, his/her key writing, and the U.S. founding document most influenced by his/her philosophy.)

Engagement: Ask students how the United States came to be as a nation/state? What influences informed the writing of the founding documents?

Explore: Students will break into groups of four or five students to identify the philosopher represented by each bag. Once they have identified their philosopher, they will research their Enlightenment philosopher and any influence that philosopher had on one of the founding fathers of the United States. The group will create a Flip video of an absolute monarch reacting to the philosopher, followed by a clip of one founding father having a discussion with their group’s philosopher. An important question to be asked is whether the philosopher’s beliefs is represented in the founding documents of the United States. Each video must contain a philosopher, at least one founding father, and a reference to (with specific quotes from) the writings of the philosopher and a founding document.