Niklas Baldis

The Influence of Enlightenment Philosophers on the United States Government

The Enlightenment was one of the most progressive times in terms of education and

philosophy since the Renaissance. The Enlightenment was a time of cutting-edge scientific

research such as the small pox vaccine and new philosophies such as Adam Smiths Invisible

Hand philosophy. During The Enlightenment, new ideas and scientific research was a staple of

everyday life and great minds were able to discuss in a comfortable setting of a salon. Due to the

unique perspectives that Paris, the heart of the Enlightenment, provided, when the United States

decided to separate itself from Britain many of the ideas of the Enlightenment philosophers had

can be seen in the government documents. Two government documents that Enlightenment

influences can be seen in is the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

In the mid-1700s, relations between Britain and the thirteen colonies strained to an

ultimatum of massacre, dumping tea, and a Declaration of Independence. When Thomas

Jefferson principally wrote the Declaration, the parallels between John Locke's ideas and the

Declaration are uncanny. The Declaration of Independence states, "...that all men are created

equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these

are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." Although many future Americans did not fully

respect the natural rights that both John Locke and the Founding Fathers wrote about, the fact

that colonists were thinking about these rights is very promising for the time. With the

Declaration of Independence the Founding Fathers implanted the ideas of a free and just country.

John Locke believed in the principles that life, liberty, and property are natural rights that all

people deserve and hopefully his ideas will reach Americans now and for the rest of time.
 After the American Revolution and the Treaty of Paris, the United States were an

independent nation but lacked an official law of the land. The Founding Fathers once again

looked to the philosophies of Enlightenment thinkers such as John Locke, Montesquieu, and Jean

Jacque Rousseau. Montesquieu believed in the separation of powers and check and balances that

go with it to ensure that not one branch of government is more powerful than any other branches.

In 1789 the Constitution became the supreme law of the United States beginning with its first

article. The Constitution states, "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a

Congress of the United States..." The very first article in the Constitution began a long

explanation of what each branch of government is allowed to control. One branch would receive

a power and then another branch would receive a contradictory power in order to provide an

even and just allotment of power in the government. Another aspect of United States

government that is similar to Enlightenment philosophies is Jean Jacque Rousseau's idea that the

government should have some control but minimal. If not one working class citizen in the

United States worked for one day, many businesses would lose money and a lot of society would

come to a standstill. Many other countries could do just fine because of the involvement in the

economy and dictatorships that arise. Due to United States' acceptance of Rousseau's

philosophy, the citizens of the United States have a greater impact on society than if Britain still

ruled.

Two government documents that Enlightenment influences can be seen in is the

Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. John Locke was one of the most important

Enlightenment philosophers not just in Europe but also in the formation of the United States'

freedom. John Locke believed that life, liberty, and property are natural rights that all people

deserve and the United States Founding Fathers strongly believed in the same idea that all men
are created equal. The French Enlightenment philosopher Montesquieu provided the authors of

the Constitution with an idea that a separation of powers is needed for a successful government

in which no branch (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial) is more powerful than another. The

works and ideas of the most popular Enlightenment philosophers have provided a foundation in

which the United States was able to be built