How Did Enlightenment Ideas Influence The American Political System

American Political System Influenced By Enlightenment Ideas There were many people, actions, events and ideas that have helped mold America’s Political System to what it is today. One big thing that influenced the system was Enlightenment ideas from philosophers. These ideas were proposed after an increase in scientific achievements, that later led to a movement towards using rational thinking and reason to design societies and government rather than inherited power. To this day, the ideas of Montesquieu, Voltaire and Cesare Beccaria still stand. There were many philosophers during the Enlightenment Era, but one that stood out was a french political philosopher named, “ Montesquieu”. He created the theory of Separation of Powers; which he was best known for. Montesquieu believed that all the power should not go to one individual, but to split the power between groups. In the American Political System today, this simple idea came to be the three branches of government; legislative, executive and judicial. The three branches split the power to form a government, such …show more content…
He was best known for his goals to reform the Criminal Justice System, as well as promoting simpler laws. One of his most memorable quotes were, “ Laws against the possession of weapons only disarm those who have no intention of committing a crime”. Meaning, that he wanted to reform the justice system to focus more on preventing crime, rather than punishing it and wanted to create simpler laws to help enforce that. By encouraging the simpler laws, it was easier to decided whether or not a crime was committed or how severe the punishment should be. This idea of simpler laws and a reformed justice system contributed to today’s political system by the helping the creation of the second Amendment- the right to bear arms. This helped to achieve that by slowly, yet surely promoting less complicated