What were the main ideas of the Enlightenment?

The Enlightenment held that reason and natural law, not tradition or divine authority, should govern society. Its central political ideas were natural rights (people are born with rights to life, liberty, and property), the social contract (government is an agreement between rulers and the ruled), popular sovereignty (legitimate power comes from the consent of the governed), and separation of powers (dividing government to prevent tyranny). Key thinkers were Locke, Rousseau, Montesquieu, and Voltaire. These ideas challenged the divine right of kings and inspired revolution and reform.

Why is the Haitian Revolution significant?

The Haitian Revolution (1791 to 1804) was the first and only successful large-scale revolt of enslaved people. Enslaved Africans in the French colony of Saint-Domingue, inspired by the French Revolution's promise of liberty, rose up under leaders including Toussaint Louverture and Dessalines, defeated French forces, and created Haiti, the first independent Black-led republic. It showed that Enlightenment ideals applied to enslaved people, ended slavery in the colony, and inspired other independence movements while frightening slaveholding societies.

What caused the Latin American independence movements?

The Latin American independence movements (about 1810 to 1825) were caused by the resentment of creoles (American-born colonists of Spanish descent) who were barred from the highest offices reserved for peninsulares, by Enlightenment ideas of natural rights and popular sovereignty, by the examples of the American, French, and Haitian revolutions, and by the weakening of Spain after Napoleon invaded it in 1808. Leaders such as Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin led armies that won independence for most of Spanish America.

How do I read a stimulus document on the exam?

Read the source line first: the author, date, type of source, and sometimes purpose, printed beneath the document. It tells you whose point of view you are reading and when. Then judge the source by asking about point of view (the author's position or interest) and reliability (whether the author has a reason to slant the account). For maps, read the title, key, and date; for charts, read the axes and trend; for cartoons, identify the symbols, target, and the cartoonist's opinion. Always be specific and tie the source to the question.

New YorkWorld History

NY Regents Global History and Geography II Module 1: a complete overview of the world in 1750, the Enlightenment, and the Atlantic revolutions

Q: What does Module 1 of the Global II exam cover?

Module 1 covers Framework Key Ideas 10.1 and 10.2: the world in 1750 (the Eurasian land-based empires, African kingdoms, and growing European maritime empires, and how their interactions reshaped global trade), the Enlightenment (reason, natural rights, the social contract, popular sovereignty, and separation of powers), and the Atlantic revolutions the Enlightenment inspired (the American, French, Haitian, and Latin American revolutions). It also introduces the document skills the whole exam rewards: reading a source line, judging point of view, and recognizing enduring issues.

A deep-dive guide to Module 1 of the NY Global History and Geography II Regents: the world in 1750, the Enlightenment and its ideas, the American and French revolutions, the Haitian and Latin American revolutions, and the document skills the exam rewards, with the question patterns NYSED repeats.

Generated by Claude Opus 4.818 min read10.1-10.2Updated 2026-06-02

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What Module 1 actually demands
The world in 1750
The Enlightenment
The American and French revolutions
The Haitian and Latin American revolutions
Document skills
Check your knowledge

What Module 1 actually demands

Module 1 is the foundation of the Global II course. Under the New York State K-12 Social Studies Framework it covers Key Ideas 10.1 and 10.2: the world in 1750, the Enlightenment, and the Atlantic revolutions. The dominant skills are reading sources for point of view, explaining cause and effect, and recognizing enduring issues such as the struggle for power, inequality, and the impact of ideas. Many questions hand you a document (a map, a passage from Locke, a revolutionary declaration) and ask you to interpret it.

This guide ties together the matching dot-point pages, each with its own practice questions: the world in 1750, the Enlightenment, the American and French Revolutions, the Latin American and Haitian Revolutions, and reading stimulus documents.

The world in 1750

In 1750 the world was dominated by large land-based empires in Eurasia: the Ottoman, Safavid (in decline), Mughal, and Qing empires. African kingdoms such as Ashanti and Oyo and the Swahili coast were active traders. European maritime empires held mainly coastal trading posts in Asia and Africa, run through chartered companies like the British and Dutch East India Companies, but they controlled the Atlantic and the sea lanes. Their interactions, the Columbian Exchange, the transatlantic slave trade, and the flow of American silver, wove an increasingly interconnected world economy. The key point: Europe did not yet rule Asia or inland Africa, but it controlled long-distance trade.

The Enlightenment

The Enlightenment held that reason and natural law should govern society. Its ideas, natural rights, the social contract, popular sovereignty, and separation of powers, challenged the divine right of kings. The key thinkers are Locke (natural rights, government by consent), Rousseau (social contract, popular sovereignty), Montesquieu (separation of powers), and Voltaire (free speech and tolerance), with Smith (free markets) and Wollstonecraft (women's rights) extending the logic. The ideas spread through books, pamphlets, and salons to a growing reading public, and they inspired revolution and reform.

The American and French revolutions

The American Revolution (1775 to 1783) combined Enlightenment ideas with the grievance of taxation without representation; it produced the Declaration of Independence and a Constitution built on separation of powers. The French Revolution (1789) combined Enlightenment ideas with inequality (the estate system), financial crisis, and food shortages; it produced the Declaration of the Rights of Man, abolished feudal privilege, executed the king, passed through the radical Reign of Terror, and ended with Napoleon, who spread revolutionary reforms across Europe before his defeat in 1815.

The Haitian and Latin American revolutions

The Haitian Revolution (1791 to 1804) was the only successful large-scale slave revolt, led by Toussaint Louverture and Dessalines, creating the first Black-led republic. The Latin American independence movements (about 1810 to 1825) were led by creoles resentful of exclusion by peninsulares, inspired by Enlightenment ideas and earlier revolutions, and helped by the weakening of Spain after Napoleon's invasion. Bolivar and San Martin liberated most of Spanish South America. Independence was real, but power often stayed with creole elites and inequality persisted.

Document skills

Every part of the exam is document-based. Read the source line first (author, date, type, purpose). Judge a source by its point of view and reliability (does the author have a reason to slant it?). Read maps by title, key, and date; charts by axes and trend; cartoons by symbols, target, and opinion. Then practice tagging an enduring issue (power, conflict, inequality, the impact of ideas), which is the skill Part III rewards.

Module 1 of the Global II exam covers the world in 1750 (Eurasian land-based empires, African kingdoms, and European maritime empires controlling sea trade), the Enlightenment (reason and natural law producing natural rights, the social contract, popular sovereignty, and separation of powers, challenging the divine right of kings), the American and French revolutions (Enlightenment ideas plus grievances producing the Declaration of Independence, the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the Terror, and Napoleon), and the Haitian Revolution (the only successful slave revolt) and Latin American independence movements (creole-led, helped by Spain's weakening). It also teaches the document skills the whole exam rewards: reading a source line, judging point of view and reliability, interpreting visuals, and recognizing enduring issues such as power and inequality.

Check your knowledge

A mix of recall and application questions covering Module 1. Attempt them under timed conditions, then check against the solutions.

Name the four major land-based empires of Eurasia in 1750. (2 marks)
Explain why Europeans held mainly coastal trading posts in Asia in 1750. (2 marks)
Define the social contract and name a thinker associated with it. (2 marks)
State which Enlightenment idea is reflected in the United States Constitution's three branches of government. (1 mark)
Identify one cause of the French Revolution and explain how it contributed to revolution. (3 marks)
Explain why the Haitian Revolution is considered historically significant. (2 marks)
Identify one cause of the Latin American independence movements. (1 mark)
Explain how to judge the reliability of a document on the exam. (2 marks)
Define an enduring issue and give two examples. (2 marks)

Solutions

Q1: The Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal, and Qing empires.
Q2: The Asian land empires were too strong and populous to conquer, so Europeans traded from coastal posts and forts to access valuable Asian goods rather than ruling inland territory.
Q3: The social contract is the idea that government exists by agreement among people to protect their rights, not by divine grant to a king; associated with Locke and Rousseau.
Q4: Separation of powers (Montesquieu).
Q5: One cause was the inequality of the estate system: the Third Estate paid most taxes but had little political power. Combined with financial crisis, food shortages, and Enlightenment ideas of equality, this drove the Third Estate to form the National Assembly and begin the revolution.
Q6: It was the only successful large-scale revolt of enslaved people, defeating France and creating Haiti, the first Black-led republic; it showed Enlightenment ideals applied to the enslaved and inspired other movements.
Q7: Any one of: the resentment of creoles excluded from top offices; Enlightenment ideas; the example of the American, French, and Haitian revolutions; the weakening of Spain after Napoleon's invasion.
Q8: Ask whether the author has an interest in slanting the account (point of view and purpose), how close the source is to the events, and what the source was made to do; a strongly biased source is weak for proving others' experience but strong evidence for its author's own view.
Q9: An enduring issue is a challenge or problem societies have faced across time and tried to address with varying success; examples include the struggle for power, conflict, inequality, human rights, and the impact of new ideas.

Sources & how we know this

New York State K-12 Social Studies Framework (Grades 9 to 12) — New York State Education Department (2016)
Global History and Geography II — New York State Education Department (2025)