Roots of the Government

Our governemnt was not built in a day. Our governement was formed by our Founding Fathers. However, they did not come up with the enttire Constitution on their own. When the founding fathers (people who laid the foundation for our American government) were writing the constitution, they looked to several places for examples of how to organize their government. The founding fathers had long before decided that we wanted to create a republic (a government in which citizens rule through elected representatives). Our Founding Fathers can be seen to the right of this paragraph.

Enlightement Thinkers

The Enlightenment dates back to the 18th century (1700's), and was also commonly known as "the Age of Reasoning." This was the turning point in history where people turned to science and technology rather than theology, or religion. Present-day England was one of the first countries to ever seperate the power of the church from the state, and in turn this created a whole new way of ruling the people. Briliant men started to think more about what the people wanted rather tham what the government, and it was these people that sparked the interests of our Founding Fathers. They were drawn in by the fact that the people should hold the power to pick who governs them, and they should also hold the power to overthrow an unjust government.

Montesquieu

One enlightenment thinker that has influenced the American Constitution is Montesquieu. Montesquieu is a French Enlightenment thinker. His major beliefs were the separation of of powers in the government. An example of that separation of powers would be the three branches of government. Another example would be the Check and Balance system. He proposed that separation in powers would keep any individual or group from gaining total control of government. His effect on history mainly affected the United States Constitution.

Jean Jacques Rousseau

Jean Jacques Rousseau was a philosopher who effected history by inspiring democracy. He believed that the early men were free to be themselves and civilization forced people to obey the unjust laws of others. He also believed in a direct democracy, which is a government that is formed freely to the people and guided the general will of society. His major beliefs was the Social Contract. The Social Contact is a written document between the people is the people and the government listing the rights and obligations of the people and the government.

The Constitution

So where did the ideas of the Constitution come from? The ideas of the Constitution came from these great men called Enlightenment thinkers. The two presented above are just one of the many many people whose ideas were implemented (included) in the Constitution. Others included John Lock, Thomas Paine, Voltaire, and many more to be named. The main ideas of the Constitution revolved around democracy and the governing of the people to create a strong, civilized, well formed government known today as the United States of America. After all, the first three words of the Constitutio are "We the people..."