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Difficulty: MediumEnlightenment Thought and Social Contract Theories

"No man has received from nature the right to command others. Liberty is a gift from heaven, and each individual of the same species has the right to enjoy it as soon as he enjoys the use of reason. If nature has established any authority, it is paternal power; but paternal power has its limits... Any other authority than this does not come from nature. It comes from another source: either the strength and violence of one who has seized it, or the consent of those who have submitted to it by a contract, real or assumed, between them and the one on whom they have conferred authority."

— Denis Diderot, French philosopher, *Encyclopédie*, 1751

Which of the following political developments in the late eighteenth century was most directly inspired by the ideas expressed in the passage?

  1. The drafting of declarations justifying colonial independence and the overthrow of monarchiesAnswer
  2. B
    The adoption of mercantilist policies to consolidate state control over foreign trade
  3. C
    The creation of empires justified by scientific theories of racial hierarchy
  4. D
    The coordination of the American and French revolutions to achieve identical social restructuring

Answer

The drafting of declarations justifying colonial independence and the overthrow of monarchies
The correct answer is correct because Diderot's emphasis on political authority deriving from the consent of the governed through a contract, rather than from nature or force, directly provided the intellectual framework for revolutionary declarations. Documents like the American Declaration of Independence (1776) and the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (1789) explicitly invoked these social contract principles to justify breaking away from colonial rule or overthrowing absolute monarchies.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus passage for core themes.
The passage argues that no person has a natural right to rule others, liberty is an inherent gift, and legitimate authority comes only from the consent of the governed via a contract.
Identifying the central Enlightenment concepts of natural rights and the social contract is necessary to connect them to historical developments.
2
Evaluate the relationship between the passage's themes and the provided options.
The concept of consent-based authority and the social contract directly aligns with the drafting of revolutionary declarations that challenged monarchical rule and asserted popular sovereignty.
Connecting Enlightenment theory to late eighteenth-century political actions demonstrates understanding of cause-and-effect in Unit 5.

Key Concept

Enlightenment Thought and Social Contract Theories
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Enlightenment Thought and Social Contract Theories

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