Enlightenment Vocabulary

A European movement that happened during the late 17th and 18th centuries using reason and logic as well as individualism to explain the natural world rather than tradition.

• Separation of Powers

• The Enlightenment

• Separation of Church and State

• Social Contract

A king or queen that has absolute power.

• Absolute monarch

• Despot

• Democracy

• Republic

A few people rule.

• Aristocracy

• Monarchy

• Divine Right of Kings

• Natural Rights

The right to say and think what you want.

The attempt to make the government not influence religious beliefs and vice versa.

• Separation of Powers

• Empiricism

• Separation of Church and State

• Rationalism

The belief that you can have your own opinion and that it matters.

• Humanism

• Individualism

• Empiricism

A government in which the power is held by the people and their elected representatives and president.

• Republic

• Democracy

The belief that God gave Kings their power. 

• Divine Right of Kings
• Absolute Monarch

• Rationalism

• Democracy

The belief that things can be proven using logic and reason. 

• Empiricism

• Humanism

• Rationalism

• Individualism

The rights that all people have.

• Natural Rights

• Free Speech

• Social Contract