Morgan Tolbert

Enlightened Thinkers Essay

There was a time of horrible and malevolent rulers. They took control of their lands on their

own. No separation of powers, no voting, the people had no control. This was a time of

absolutism, with absolute rulers. Not all rulers were malevolent and horrid, but all of them took

full reign of their lands. People grew tired of this and began to rebel. They began thinking for

themselves and throwing away previous thoughts that they needed only one ruler to have a

strong government. They began thinking for themselves and coming up with new ideas. This

time period of new thoughts and ideas was called the enlightenment. After the enlightenment,

explorers found a new land, they called the New World. England decided to send colonies of

people over to this New World. These colonies were treated poorly by their motherland of

England. England needed to pay back their debt from war, so they began taxing the colonists.

The colonists grew tired of England’s rule over them and decided to gain their freedom. A few

key political figures in the new world within the colonies at the time decided to create a

document stating that they were breaking away from England’s rule. This document was called

the Declaration of Independence. Later on other documents such as the Constitution, and the Bill

of rights, which is located in the Constitution, were created. All of these documents were

influenced in one way or another by the enlightened thinkers John Locke, Voltaire, and

Montesquieu. John Locke influenced the Declaration of Independence with his ideas of natural

rights. Voltaire had an influence on the Bill of Rights, specifically, the first amendment with his

thoughts of freedom of speech. Montesquieu's ideas of separation of powers influenced the

Constitution.
 The British philosopher John Locke influenced the creation of the Declaration of

Independence with his ideas of natural rights. John Locke came up with the idea of natural rights,

natural rights as described by John Locke, is the idea that all men are guaranteed the basic rights

of “Life, liberty, and property”. Thomas Jefferson used this idea of natural rights within the

Declaration of Independence saying “...among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of

Happiness.” Declaration of Independence. As you can see, Jefferson changed property to pursuit

of happiness for a few reasons. Not all people had access to property, and slaves were considered

property. So instead of using the word property he exchanged it for something less controversial.

In Jefferson saying this, it shows that he got his ideas from John Locke.

The French philosopher Voltaire influenced the Bill of Rights, more specifically

however, the first amendment. Voltaire believed in freedom of speech and religion, he thought

everyone had the right to speak their mind and practice their religion without being looked down

upon or judged. That is why most of the colonists moved over to the New World, for freedom of

religion. The colonists were frowned upon by the church because they did not practice the same

religion or have the same beliefs as the church did religiously. The colonists grew tired of the

constant badgering from the king of England so they made new gathering places for their

religions in the New World. The way Voltaire influenced the Bill of Rights is seen in the First

amendment. “Or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people

peaceably to assemble,” Bill of Rights, First Amendment. This is stated in the Bill of Rights,

which is exactly what Voltaire was talking about.

Another philosopher who influenced the cornerstones of America is Montesquieu. He had

ideas that the power of the government should be separated into different parts to avoid

absolutism. This idea is what the entire constitution is about, the separation of powers. The
separation of powers within the United States currently is the Legislative, Judicial, and Executive

branch. I believe Montesquieu would have greatly appreciated that fact. The separation of

powers is very important for multiple different reasons. It makes it so absolutism is very

unlikely, and so no one person can rule at a time and bring back absolutism. The way it is set up

it also makes sure that no one branch of the government can control the other two due to checks

and balances. This is all the reasons how Montesquieu influenced the Constitution.

The Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights. And Constitution, were all greatly

influenced thinkers, John locke, Voltaire, and Montesquieu. These three documents are the basis

of our government and have helped this country grow into what it is today.