Enlightenment Ideas to American Institutions¶
Learning Objective¶
Students will identify (Bloom L1 — Remember) the key Enlightenment thinkers and explain (Bloom L2 — Understand) how each thinker's ideas appeared in specific founding documents or constitutional structures.
- Bloom Level: Understand (L2)
- Bloom Verb: Identify, Explain
- Library: vis-timeline
Specification¶
The full specification below is extracted from Chapter 1: "Chapter 1: Foundations of American Democracy".
Type: timeline
**sim-id:** enlightenment-to-constitution-timeline<br/>
**Library:** vis-timeline<br/>
**Status:** Specified
**Learning objective:** Students will *identify* (Bloom L1 — Remember) the key Enlightenment thinkers and *explain* (Bloom L2 — Understand) how each thinker's ideas appeared in specific founding documents or constitutional structures.
**Timeline items (clickable, each opens an infobox):**
| Date | Event | Infobox content |
|------|-------|-----------------|
| 1689 | Locke publishes *Two Treatises of Government* | Natural rights to life, liberty, property; right of revolution against tyranny |
| 1748 | Montesquieu publishes *The Spirit of the Laws* | Separation of powers into three branches; checks and balances prevent tyranny |
| 1762 | Rousseau publishes *The Social Contract* | Government derives authority from a foundational agreement among the people |
| 1776 | Declaration of Independence | Locke's natural rights in Jefferson's language; right to alter or abolish government |
| 1781 | Articles of Confederation ratified | First attempt at national government; retained Enlightenment skepticism of central power |
| 1786–87 | Shays' Rebellion | Crisis revealing weakness of Articles; galvanized support for constitutional reform |
| 1787 | Constitutional Convention | Applied Montesquieu's separation of powers; Rousseau's social contract in Preamble |
| 1788 | Federalist Papers published | Madison, Hamilton, Jay articulate theory of republican government to the public |
| 1791 | Bill of Rights ratified | Antifederalist demand fulfilled; Locke's natural rights codified as constitutional limits |
**Visual design:**
- Horizontal scrolling timeline on a parchment-colored background
- Each item is a clickable dot/card; clicking expands an infobox below
- Items color-coded: blue for philosophical works, red for American events, green for documents
- Responsive: reflows to vertical list on narrow screens
- Canvas size: 100% width × 200px (collapsed), expands on item click