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WORLD STUDIES

UNIT 2: AGE OF ABSOLUTISM

The rise of secularism and the questioning spirit that emerged during the Renaissance and Reformation led to scientific achievements and new ideas about the relationship between the individual and the state. In this unit students will analyze the effects of both movements on the formulation of natural laws and natural rights which led to attacks on absolute monarchs.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS

  • Does power corrupt?

  • To what extent does the concentration of power impact political, economic, and social development?

  • To what extent is a nation's strength tied to its leadership?

  • What is the role of government?

  • On what basis should subjects obey their rulers?

  • To what extent have governments adapted to new ideas or change?

Essential Questions

Has the government ever failed you?

VIDEOS

Videos
Rondeau by Jean-Joseph Mouret

  • What does Mouret's Rondeau make you picture in your mind?

  • Why does this music fit with the Age of Absolutism?

Louis XIV - The Sun King

  • What made Louis XIV an absolute monarch?

  • Why was he called the "Sun King"?

Crash Course: English Civil War & Constitutionalism

  • What is constitutionalism?

  • Why did absolutism not succeed in England?

Thomas Hobbes

  • What was Hobbes' secular defense of absolutism?

  • How did Hobbes view the state of nature?

John Locke

  • What is the role of government?

  • What is the nature of the relationship between the state and its citizens?

  • Why did Locke advocate a separation of church and state?

  • How did Locke's views differ from Thomas Hobbes?

Adam Smith

  • Why is Adam Smith considered the father of modern capitalism?

  • Is the market really self-regulating?

  • How should the rich be treated?

Jean Jacques Rousseau 

  • In what ways are Rousseau's ideas similar to those of John Locke?

  • How did Rousseau's ideas influence education?

  • What would Rousseau think of Adam Smith?

UNIT SOURCES

Sources

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