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AP European History Practice Quiz: The Enlightenment

Written by AP Content Team, Verified for 2026 AP Exams, Last updated: May 2026

Test your understanding with short quizzes. This quiz has 16 questions to check your progress.

Question 1 of 16

Enlightenment intellectuals such as Voltaire and Diderot based their approach to understanding society and human institutions on the principles of which preceding movement?

All Questions (16)

Enlightenment intellectuals such as Voltaire and Diderot based their approach to understanding society and human institutions on the principles of which preceding movement?

A) The Renaissance

B) The Protestant Reformation

C) The Scientific Revolution

D) The Age of Absolutism

Correct Answer: C

The provided text explicitly states that intellectuals like Voltaire and Diderot 'applied the principles of the Scientific Revolution to society and human institutions.' This involved using reason, observation, and systematic doubt to analyze the world.

According to the political theories of John Locke, the authority of the state is derived from which of the following sources?

A) The divine right of the monarch

B) The consent of the governed

C) The traditions of the ancestors

D) The power of a standing army

Correct Answer: B

The text states that political theories like Locke's 'argued the state originated in the consent of the governed, challenging divine right.' This is a core concept of his social contract theory.

Adam Smith's economic theories represented a direct challenge to which dominant economic model of the 17th and 18th centuries?

A) Feudalism

B) Mercantilism

C) Socialism

D) Manorialism

Correct Answer: B

The content specifies that 'Mercantilist theory was challenged by new economic ideas (e.g., Adam Smith), which espoused free trade and a free market.' Mercantilism was the prevailing system that Smith's ideas sought to replace.

What was the primary function of institutions like salons and coffeehouses in the context of the Enlightenment?

A) To serve as official government meeting places

B) To organize military and political protests

C) To act as centers for religious worship

D) To explore and disseminate Enlightenment culture

Correct Answer: D

The text highlights that a 'variety of institutions (e.g., salons, coffeehouses) explored and disseminated Enlightenment culture.' They were crucial informal venues for the spread of new ideas.

Which of the following represents a significant contradiction within Enlightenment thought, as exemplified by Jean-Jacques Rousseau?

A) Advocating for free markets while supporting government monopolies

B) Championing reason while promoting religious mysticism

C) Arguing for principles of equality while excluding women from political life

D) Supporting the social contract while defending the divine right of kings

Correct Answer: C

The content points out this specific contradiction: 'Intellectuals like Rousseau offered controversial arguments for the exclusion of women from political life, despite the Enlightenment's principles of equality.'

The political models developed by John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were fundamentally based on what two concepts?

A) Divine right and absolute monarchy

B) Mercantilism and state power

C) Natural rights and the social contract

D) Traditional hierarchy and religious authority

Correct Answer: C

The text directly states that 'Locke and Rousseau developed new political models based on the concept of natural rights and the social contract.'

The Enlightenment's influence on European intellectual development is best characterized by a shift towards:

A) A greater emphasis on faith and divine revelation over empirical evidence.

B) The application of reason and scientific principles to human affairs.

C) The rejection of classical Greek and Roman philosophies.

D) A renewed focus on scholastic theology and church doctrine.

Correct Answer: B

The content explains the influence of Enlightenment thought by noting how intellectuals 'applied the principles of the Scientific Revolution to society and human institutions,' which is a shift towards reason and scientific methods in understanding human affairs.

A direct consequence of the political theories of thinkers like John Locke was the:

A) Strengthening of the theory of the divine right of kings.

B) Creation of a philosophical basis for challenging absolute rule.

C) Universal granting of political rights to women and the propertyless.

D) Immediate decline of mercantilist economic policies across Europe.

Correct Answer: B

The text states that Locke's theories, based on the 'consent of the governed,' were a direct challenge to 'divine right.' This provided a powerful intellectual justification for opposing and reforming absolute monarchies, which is a major consequence of Enlightenment thought.

Which of the following policies would Adam Smith most likely have supported?

A) High tariffs on imported goods to protect domestic industries.

B) Government-granted monopolies to favored trading companies.

C) The reduction of trade barriers between nations.

D) State control over the production and pricing of grain.

Correct Answer: C

The provided content states that Adam Smith 'espoused free trade and a free market.' The reduction of trade barriers, such as tariffs, is a central component of a free trade policy.

The Enlightenment concept of society as composed of 'self-interested individuals' primarily challenged the older view of society as:

A) A collection of corporate groups and hierarchical orders.

B) A democratic republic of equal citizens.

C) An anarchic state of nature.

D) A system based on free-market capitalism.

Correct Answer: A

Locke's idea of a society of self-interested individuals who consent to be governed was a radical departure from the pre-Enlightenment view of society as a rigid hierarchy of groups (like nobility, clergy, guilds) where one's identity was tied to their group, not their individual interests.

The intellectual foundations of the Enlightenment were most directly a result of the:

A) Renewed interest in classical texts during the Renaissance.

B) Religious debates and schisms of the Protestant Reformation.

C) Application of rational inquiry and empiricism from the Scientific Revolution.

D) Political consolidation of power by absolute monarchs.

Correct Answer: C

The text establishes a clear causal link, stating that Enlightenment intellectuals 'applied the principles of the Scientific Revolution to society and human institutions.' This indicates the Scientific Revolution provided the foundational methods and mindset for the Enlightenment.

Which statement best explains the cause of new political models developed by Locke and Rousseau?

A) They were commissioned by absolute monarchs to justify their rule.

B) They sought to apply rational analysis to the basis of political legitimacy.

C) They aimed to restore the feudal system of government.

D) They were primarily focused on justifying mercantilist economic policies.

Correct Answer: B

The development of models based on 'natural rights' and the 'social contract' was a direct result of applying the Enlightenment method—rational analysis and reason—to the question of government, moving away from traditional or religious justifications for power.

The ideas of Adam Smith regarding free trade were a significant departure from mercantilist theory primarily because mercantilism emphasized:

A) The importance of individual consumer choice.

B) The belief that national wealth was finite and best increased through protectionism.

C) The idea that economic prosperity depended on international cooperation.

D) The free exchange of goods and labor without government intervention.

Correct Answer: B

Mercantilist theory, which Smith challenged, was built on the idea of a zero-sum game where a nation's wealth (measured in bullion) could only grow at another's expense. This justified protectionist policies like tariffs and monopolies to ensure a favorable balance of trade, the opposite of Smith's free trade ideas.

Which of the following Enlightenment thinkers is specifically mentioned as holding controversial views on the role of women in political life?

A) Voltaire

B) Diderot

C) John Locke

D) Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Correct Answer: D

The provided text explicitly states, 'Intellectuals like Rousseau offered controversial arguments for the exclusion of women from political life.'

The spread of Enlightenment culture through informal institutions like salons had what major social consequence?

A) It reinforced the absolute power of monarchs by limiting dissent to private spaces.

B) It created a new public sphere of debate and discussion outside of formal state control.

C) It led to the immediate collapse of organized religion across Europe.

D) It restricted intellectual life to the aristocracy and high clergy.

Correct Answer: B

By providing venues for discussion and dissemination of new ideas, salons and coffeehouses helped create a 'public sphere' where political, social, and economic theories could be debated by a wider range of people, a significant consequence for European society.

The central argument of Enlightenment political thinkers who promoted the 'social contract' was that governments:

A) Are established by God to rule over humanity.

B) Are a natural and unavoidable evil to be endured.

C) Derive their just powers from an agreement with the people they govern.

D) Should have unlimited power to maintain order.

Correct Answer: C

The concept of the social contract, as developed by Locke and Rousseau, is based on the idea that the state is formed by the 'consent of the governed.' This means people agree to form a government and give it power in exchange for the protection of their natural rights.