Imagine a group of wise leaders around an ancient table studying various historical documents from Medieval England all the way to the Age of Enlightenment. Once, all these documents came together these leaders and started to create the perfect government. These wise leaders are the American Founders who created the US Constitution.Throughout history the Age of Enlightenment influenced the American founders, meanwhile, the Magna Carta and English Bill of Rights both correlated to the idea of limited government and natural rights philosophy, which all helped create the US Constitution. To begin with, the Age of Enlightenment was an intellectual movement which, developed new ideas of government and technology. In the textbook “We the People” Montesquieu develops an idea for governments and asserts that, “ the form of a society’s government corresponds to the social, economic, and geographic conditions of that society”.This quote reveals an idea that was developed on how behavior in a society can be predicted. Therefore, by analyzing society’s behavior paths one can see how the form of the government (Ex: Monarchy, Democracy, Dictatorship) can affect citizen’s lives, personality, career, and economic status. Thus, these philosophical ideas about government and society influenced the American founders by making them understand that America cannot become a strict monarchy like England. The reason for this realization is because Montesquieu's point made the founders see how the form of Britain’s government was so bad, that the colonists decided to revolt. Hence, the founders made the United States a democracy which made the colonists much more content. Additionally, the reason why the Age of Enlightenment influenced the founders is because the American founders needed fresh, new, and unique philosophical ideas for the US Constitution to make the government as perfect as possible and these ideas were provided by the Enlightenment. On the other hand, the Enlightenment posed a threat to institutions and authority because all these new ideas made people question their religion, beliefs, and government. Consequently, people attacked their authorities and government to stop people like Montesquieu, Locke, Hobbes and anyone else who brought these insane ideas about government and society. The Magna Carta established some of the constitutional principles of the US Constitution, and is related to the idea of limited government. In the textbook, “We the People” the king of England during the 1200s was King John I and the narrator asserts that, “ King John I tried to take back some rights and powers
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In the textbook, “We the People,” the narrator asserts that the English Bill created, “limitations on the Crown’s power to raise money to guarantees of free speech.” This quote suggests that England went through many tough times when the Crown or monarch abused their power, which was a common fault that needed to be fixed. Therefore, England created the English Bill of Rights which established many constitutional principles including the rule of law, a representative government, and basic rights including freedom of speech. Furthermore, these principles related to the natural rights philosophy by creating rights that every human needs including freedom of speech, debate, and religion. These rights established in the Bill all fulfill the quote “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” by giving people the rights they want and this quote is often correlated to the natural rights
In the textbook, “We the People,” the narrator asserts that the English Bill created, “limitations on the Crown’s power to raise money to guarantees of free speech.” This quote suggests that England went through many tough times when the Crown or monarch abused their power, which was a common fault that needed to be fixed. Therefore, England created the English Bill of Rights which established many constitutional principles including the rule of law, a representative government, and basic rights including freedom of speech. Furthermore, these principles related to the natural rights philosophy by creating rights that every human needs including freedom of speech, debate, and religion. These rights established in the Bill all fulfill the quote “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” by giving people the rights they want and this quote is often correlated to the natural rights