Montesquieu's Influence On The US Constitution

The American Revolution led to the birth of a new nation when the thirteen American colonies achieved their independence. However, some colonists believed that the new nation required a central government which led to the ratification of the Constitution by the states. The Constitution embodied Montesquieu’s beliefs of checks and balances by the creation of the three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. Most importantly, the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution in order to protect the basic freedom and rights of the nation’s citizens who were at the time considered to be white males. The Bill of Rights was mainly a representation of the natural rights philosophy of the American colonists and 18th century philosophes. The philosophes’ ideals were to create a perfect society based on the foundations of religious tolerance and separation of powers in which the educated colonists sought for in the American Revolution.
2. Which of the Enlightenment philosophes had the most influence on the U.S. Constitution? Explain.
Montesquieu was famous for his work, The Spirit of the Laws, in which he analyzed three types of governments: monarchy, despotism, and republic. In …show more content…
He did not limit his reforms to appease the nobility in order for his success like Catherine II, but fought against them. Despite his alienation from the nobility and the church, he was successful in his reforms during his lifetime. He drastically changed the Austrian Empire by abolishing serfdom, allowing religious toleration, and annulling the death penalty. Most importantly, Joseph II believed that everyone had the same basic rights and that the government may not interfere with them. His reform program encompassed the main ideals of the Enlightenment, and accomplished feats that both Frederick II and Catherine II did not even attempt to