Florida SS.7.CG.1.4
The Standard
Analyze how Enlightenment ideas, including Montesquieu's view of separation of powers and John Locke's theories related to natural law and Locke's social contract, influenced the Founding.
Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards for Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students explain natural rights, social contract, and separation of powers in their own words. They connect each idea to specific language or structures in founding documents and government.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can match Locke and Montesquieu to their main ideas. They can cite evidence from the Declaration or Constitution and explain how the idea shaped American government.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may read natural law as environmental law and social contract as a paper people signed. They often treat separation of powers and checks and balances as identical. Some claim Locke or Montesquieu wrote the founding documents.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Choose natural rights, social contract, or separation of powers. Name one founding document or government feature it influenced, then explain the link in two sentences.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give groups quote cards from Locke, Montesquieu, the Declaration, and the Constitution, then have them pair and annotate matching ideas.
Ask students to write: Which idea most shaped the new government, and what two pieces of evidence support your choice?
Run a card-sort race where teams place examples under natural rights, social contract, separation of powers, or unrelated.
Use a city government chart and have students label where legislative, executive, and judicial powers appear.
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Printable SS.7.CG.1.4 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to SS.7.CG.1.4, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- SS.6.CG.1.3
Examine rule of law in the ancient world and its influence on the United States' constitutional republic.
- SS.7.CG.1.6
Analyze the ideas and grievances set forth in the Declaration of Independence.
- SS.6.CG.1.1
Analyze how democratic concepts developed in ancient Greece served as a foundation for the United States' constitutional republic.
- SS.7.CG.1.2
Trace the principles underlying America's founding ideas on law and government.
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