How Did The Enlightenment Affect The Constitution

The Enlightenment had a big impact on the creation of the U.S. Constitution in view of the Social Contract, Montesquieu’s idea to have a separation of powers, and Locke’s idea of natural rights. The Social Contract had a big effect on the U.S. Constitution because it gave citizens more freedom. Citizens had the right to criticize or even rebel, (protest, remove, vote out of office) against the government if it was not living up to its end of the contract. The deal of the contract was that people give up some of their freedom to the government and the government protects them and guarantees their rights. Ideas from the Social Contract can be seen in the first Amendment of the Constitution, the rules about Habeas Corpus and the 14th Amendment.

The Framers decided to include this is the constitution because colonists were not treated properly by the British government. They did not have a say in the way they were governed, so they wanted their new system to change that. Montesquieu’s idea of a separation of powers asserted that government power should be dispersed into three separate branches so one part of the government does not gain too much power. Baron Charles de Montesquieu’s book, The Spirit of Laws, which was published in 1748 and discussed his beliefs in the roles of government included in excerpt that was as follows, “To prevent this abuse, it is necessary, from the very nature of things, that power should be a check to power…. When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty. . .” (Document D). Power is often abused and needs to be limited. This can be shown in the Bill of Rights and illustrates limited government. Laws were only made by one branch and laws were passing more easily causing a need for the U.S. to seperate power so laws would have to be made by contributes of many different