Enlightenment Philosophers in the New World

Lizzy Goetz

Have you ever put any thought to the formation of the United States government?

Contrary to what you may think, the United States government was actually influenced by

Enlightenment philosophers, little actually from the United States. There were philosophers from

Russia, England, France, and Scotland. People such as John Locke of England, inspired the

Declaration of Independence through his beliefs that people had natural rights. The different

people that influenced the formation had only a portion of their ideas put to use in the United

States. Also, a French philosopher by the name of Montesquieu wrote a book called The Spirit of

Laws, describing his beliefs. In this book, he argues of the classification of governments, the

separation of powers, and more. The separation of powers is another one of the influences that

has influenced the formation of the United States. With people like Montesquieu and Locke, the

United States government is how it is today.

As previously mentioned, Thomas Jefferson was heavily influenced by an Enlightenment

philosopher by the name of John Locke. Lockes beliefs effected the Declaration of

Independence because he believed in life, liberty, and property. The Declaration states, We hold

these truths to be self-evident, 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. because of John Locks exact beliefs. According to crf-usa.org, Locke believed

that mankind should be preserved. Locke also argued that individuals should be able to make

their own choices as long as they do not interfere with other peoples liberty. Property refers to

the ownership of oneself, or the right to personal well being. He also explained the principle of
checks and balances to limit government power. Concentrating on limiting the governments

power, gave people more rights making them less likely to rebel against the government. If the

government were to fail to protect the rights of its citizens, the citizens would have the right to

overthrow that government. This was an important aspect used by Thomas Jefferson while

writing the Declaration of Independence.

Another Enlightenment philosopher who impacted the United States government is

known as Montesquieu. As stated above, Montesquieu concentrated his works on the

classification of governments, separation of powers, and political influence of climate. By

applying his theory of the separation of powers to governments, classroom.synonym.com states

that Montesquieu thought, because the power was in one persons hands, no one would have

individual rights. To expand on this theory of the separation of powers, he thought the best way

to separate the government into three branches; executive, judiciary, and legislative. Not only did

Montesquieu inspire the United States Constitution, he also impacted the writers of the

document. The one writer that he most influenced was John Adams. Montesquieu helped Adams

to see that the principle of a kingdom or an empire was damaging the nation. By realizing this, he

supported the separation of powers.

In conclusion, through many different ideas and philosophers, eventually the United

States government was formed. Locke and Montesquieus ideas emerged and were studied

profoundly by the founding fathers of the United States. Montesquieu wanted the separation of

power within a government which were different than Lockes beliefs. Locke was all about

giving the people more rights and having less government being present. When combining these

two theories, the base of the United States government is put into action. But, through the

influence of the Enlightenment, we see the impact that it has had on the past, present, and future
governments. By following in the footsteps of our founding fathers, we are enlightening

ourselves in the ideas of others in order to better our government. After reading this, you should

have, not only a better understanding of the government, but also a newfound knowledge of the

makeup of our government and how it came to be. How do you think our government might be

today without the help of these philosophers?