The enlightenment was a European movement that began in the 18th Century. It was an age of awakening where philosophers like John Locke came up with different terms such as liberalism and republicanism. It began because people started to realize that everyone is born with “divine rights” (i.e. John Locke who rejected the divine rights of kings) and therefore could govern themselves, this was the beginning of democracy.
Democracy was a new form of government that was developed from monarchy but believed in the separation of powers. The separation of powers included what is known as checks and balances that stand within our government. Checks and balances includes things such as vetoes and branch power. For example if the house comes up with a law the president can veto it if he doesn't approve. But even if the president doesn't approve congress can still pass the law with a ⅔ vote or more. Just as between the legislative and executive branch the judicial branch (supreme court) still has the right to deem a bill unconstitutional.
The enlightenment also came up with the concept of toleration. Toleration in a simple form is just to be tolerable of other people’s beliefs and perspectives on different matters.
Toleration was a way to see people as equals because of acceptance. Even our government practices toleration because in the first amendment we have the freedom of things like religion, speech and the freedom to petition. John Locke was one of the men who wrote about toleration, explaining it to people in
Letters of Toleration.
For my gameboard piece I chose
Staying In School: The Dropout Rate