Name______Block ______Date ______
Ideas of the Declaration of Independence
Document Based Questions
Directions: Below you will find several documents related to John Locke’s Social Contract and the Declaration of Independence. Read or view each document and answer the questions related to that document.
Document 1
John Locke was an English philosopher who wrote his ideas about government and its relationship with its people in a book called Two Treatises of Government.
Read the following quotes From Locke's Two Treatises of Government and answer the following questions:
1. What rights are all men entitled to according to Locke?
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2. According to Locke, what is the purpose of a government?
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3. In Locke’s writing, where does the state get its power?
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4. According to Locke what do citizens have the right to do if their ruler is abusing power?
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Document 2
Read the following quotes From the Declaration of Independence and answer the following questions:
6. According to the document what rights do all men have?
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7. What is the purpose of a Government in the document?
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8. According to the ideas above, where does government get its power?
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9. What is suggested that people should do if their government is abusing its power?
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10. What was America’s response in the document to the king’s abuse of power?
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11. List ideas in the Declaration of Independence that were influenced by the writings of John
Locke.
a. ______
b. ______
c. ______
d. ______
Document 3
Use the image below to answer the following questions:
12. The creation of what document is depicted in the picture?
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13. Who is the Author of this Document?
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14. What do the papers on the floor suggest about this document?
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Document 4
These questions relate to the political cartoon below:
15. What Image is depicted in this Political Cartoon?
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16. What do the segments represent?
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17. What issue is the slogan referring to?
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“We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.”
Benjamin Franklin, (attributed) at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776
18. How does the quote above reflect the opinion of the cartoon?
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