Enlightenment Thinkers

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Enlightenment Thinkers

• Influences on the US Constitution

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Think about it.what does he mean by this?

• The purpose of separation of church and state is
  to keep forever from these shores the ceaseless
  strife that has soaked the soil of Europe with
  blood for centuries. James Madison

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Enlightenment

• An intellectual movement of the 17th and 18th
  centuries (1600-1799) marked by a celebration of
  the powers of human reason, a keen interest in
  science, the promotion of religious toleration,
  and a desire to construct government free of
  tyranny. (Hirsch 226)

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Relationship to Scientific Revolution

• During the Scientific Revolution 1500-1600s
  people began to look at the physical world
  differently.
• Why not use reason discover laws of human nature
  or NATURAL LAWS

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Natural Law

• The doctrine that human affairs should be
  governed by ethical principles that are part of
  the very nature of things and that can be
  understood by reason. (Hirsch 102)

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Thomas Hobbes

• Wrote Leviathan
• Pessimistic view of people
• People were naturally cruel, greedy and selfish.
• Without laws to control people, life would be
  nasty, brutish and short.

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Hobbes and the Social Contract

• People enter into a contract with a strong
  government
• People give up some of their natural rights in
  order to ensure an orderly society
• Hobbes believed an absolute monarchy could force
  order and obedience

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John Locke

• 17th century English philosopher. Locke argued
  against the belief that human beings are born
  with certain ideas already in their minds.
• Argued that governments depend on the consent of
  the governed
• Influenced Thomas Jeffersons writing of the
  Declaration of Independence

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John Locke

• More optimistic than Hobbes
• Believed people are reasonable and moral
• Believed in Natural Rights that belonged to all
  humans at birth
• Life, Liberty and Property/Jefferson wrote about
  life, liberty and pursuit of happiness
• Wrote Two Treatises of Government
• Best government was limited and accepted by all
  citizens

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Lockes Obligations of Government

• Locke felt governments were obligated to the
  people they governed
• If they violated their obligations THE PEOPLE HAD
  A RIGHT TO OVERTHROW THE GOVERNEMNT
• This concept is the justification for our
  Declaration of Independence see page 461..That
  whenever any Form of Government becomes
  destructive of these ends it is the Right of the
  People to alter or to abolish it and institute a
  new Government..

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Baron de Montesquieu

• 18th century French political philosopher
• Emphasized separation of powers in his book The
  Spirit of Laws
• Thought this protected against tyranny
• Government should be divided into a legislative,
  executive and judicial branch
• Each branch should check the others

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Philosophes

• 18th century Radical French thinkers
• Stressed the use of human reason
• Critical of established religious and political
  practices in France

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Voltaire

• Adopted name of Francois Arouet
• 18th century French philosopher and author
• Known for his wit and free thinking
• Wrote Candide- a novel about calamities that
  happen to the lead character all is for the best
  in this the best of all worlds

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Rousseau

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau- 18th Century French
  philosopher
• Believed that in a state of nature people are
  good, but that they are corrupted by social
  institutions
• Wrote- The Social Contract
• Minimal social controls placed by freely elected
  governments

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Rousseau

• General Will- the good of the whole community
  should come before that of the individual
• Despised all forms of political and economic
  oppression

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Women Left Out

• The ideas of the Enlightenment period were
  limited to men
• Women began to protest
• Led by Mary Wollstonecraft argued that women
  were excluded from the social contract
• Stress equal education for boys and girls

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Laissez Faire

• Some Enlightenment philosophers focused on
  economic reforms
• Laissez Faire economics is the belief that
  businesses should be able to operate without any
  or very little government interference
• Promoted free trade and did not like tariffs or
  taxes on trade

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Articles of Confederation

• Our first constitution
• Introduced in 1777/Adopted in 1781 after
  revisions
• Established a very week central government
• Most powers given to the states
• Established a firm league of friendship between
  states
• No executive or judicial branchjust a congress
  of delegates from each state

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Congresses Powers Under the Articles

• Congress could conduct foreign affairs, declare
  war and peace and maintain an army and navy
• Congress could not collect taxes, regulate
  interstate trade and enforce laws
• Country was threatened externally and internally
• Congress realized it had no power to act
• Authorized a convention to revise the Articles
  of Confederation

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Congress Authorizes a Convention

• On February 21, 1787, the Continental Congress
  resolved that
• ...it is expedient that on the second Monday in
  May next a Convention of delegates who shall have
  been appointed by the several States be held at
  Philladelphia for the sole and express purpose of
  revising the Articles of Confederation...

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Constitutional Convention 1787

• Delegates from each state met in Philadelphia
  from May-September 1787
• Met in Secrecy to allow those to speak freely
• 74 delegates were appointed by the states, 55
  arrived and about 40 took a real part in the
  work at the Constitutional Convention
• 39 signed the Constitution-3 refused to sign the
  flawed document

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Characteristics of the Delegates

• 4/5 were members of Congress, others were
  governors
• Predominantly Protestant
• Farmers, businessman, lawyers
• It is said they were well read, well bred, well
  fed and well wed
• James Madison (VA) is known as the father of the
  Constitution, he took notes of the proceedings

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Three Major Compromises

• The Constitutional Convention is usually
  discussed in terms of three major compromises
• Compromise between large and small states over
  representation in Congress-Connecticut Compromise
• Compromise between North and South over foreign
  trade
• Compromise between North and South over counting
  slaves 3/5th Compromise
• All Agreed on the idea of Balanced Government

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The New Constitution

• Divided Government- Montesquieu
• Checks and Balances Montesquieu
• Social Contract and freely elected
  representatives Rousseau
• Government should protect natural rights- Locke
• Government is obligated to those it governs
  Locke
• Power of government is derived from the people
  Locke, Rousseau

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Works Cited

• Burns, James et al. Government by the People.
  Prentice Hall Upper Saddle River. 2000.
• Ellis, Elisabeth Gaynor Esler, Anthony. World
  History Connections to Today. Pearson Upper
  Saddle River, 2005
• Hirsch, E.D. Jr. The Dictionary of Cultural
  Literacy. Houghton Mifflin Company Boston, 2002.
• Macridis, Roy. Contemporary Political
  Idoelogies. Harper Collins New York, 1996.