Constructed-Response Practice Set 1

Document A: "Men being, as has been said, by Nature, all free, equal, and independent, no one can be put out of this Estate, and subjected to the Political Power of another, without his own Consent." John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, 1689

Document B: "The Estates-General is divided into three orders. The Third Estate, which represents 96 percent of the population, has the same number of representatives as the First Estate (clergy) and Second Estate (nobles) combined, yet each order votes as a single body, so the Third Estate's voice can always be overridden by the other two." Description of pre-revolutionary France

Question 1: Based on Document A, identify Locke's view on the relationship between government and the consent of the governed.

Strong sample answer: "Locke argues that all people are born free and equal and that no one can be subjected to another's political authority without consent. This means that legitimate government depends on the consent of the governed, and any authority imposed without consent is illegitimate."

Question 2: Based on Document B, explain how the structure of the Estates-General contributed to revolutionary tensions in France.

Strong sample answer: "The Estates-General gave the Third Estate, which represented the vast majority of the French population, only one of three votes, allowing the small First and Second Estates to dominate decisions. This denied the Third Estate the political voice that its numbers should have warranted, creating a deep sense of injustice that contributed to revolutionary demands for equal political representation."

Question 3: Using both documents and your knowledge of social studies, explain the relationship between Locke's ideas and the French Revolution.

Strong sample answer: "Locke's principle of government by consent provided the intellectual framework for the French Revolution's challenge to the Old Regime. The Third Estate, denied a proportional voice in the Estates-General, used Locke's idea that legitimate authority requires consent to argue that the existing political order was illegitimate. This Lockean foundation led to the National Assembly's declaration in 1789 that sovereignty resides in the nation, not the king, and that the unrepresentative structure of the Estates-General could not bind a people whose consent had not been given."