The Visionaries

Comprehension Questions

Read p. 52-53 from the textbook and answer.

1. Terms & Names: For each term or name, write a sentence explaining its
significance.

● King George III

He was attacked by Thomas Paine.
● John Locke
He was one of the key enlightenment thinkers, also he maintained that people have the natural
rights to a lot of different things and one of them being life.
● Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the primary draftsman of the Declaration of Independence of the United
States and the nation's first secretary of state, its second vice president, and, as the third
president.
● Declaration of Independence
The Declaration summarized the colonists' motivations for seeking independence. It also gives
reasons why they should separate from Great Britain.

2. How did the ideals of the enlightenment appeal to the colonists?

Their ideas promoted social change and questioned traditional leadership. This led to
many revolutions throughout the period and created a sense of empowerment among
citizens who were unhappy with their government.
3. What reasons did Jefferson give to justify the revolt by the colonies?
Well, one of the reasons that Jefferson originally gave was that George III was
responsible for slavery. Then, having reflected on his own ownership of slaves, one of
whom was his concubine, he thought better of it.
4. While Jefferson borrowed John Locke’s ideas, he changed Locke’s definition of
the rights of men from “life, liberty, and property” to “life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness.” How do you think Jefferson’s rewording of Locke’s words has
affected American life?
Think about:
-The experience of immigrants seeking new lives
-the experience of African Americans and Native Americans
-the socioeconomic groups living in America.
He rephrased it because pursuit of happiness is a much broader term that can
incorporate property ownership or it may not, depending on what you consider to make
you happy. Pursuit of happiness is something that all people want and property is not
something that everyone wants.