When the Framers read the works of john Locke and Baron De Montesquieu they agreed with Locke about the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (although Locke wrote property instead of pursuit of happiness) and they agreed with Montesquieu about the separation of powers into three branches (Legislative, Executive, and Judicial).
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These men were a big influence on the Declaration and constitution. Both had expressed that people can choose who governs them and that they have the right to change the government when they find it no longer works. This was the foundation of the thinking of the founding fathers and was put into effect in the constitution. The world of 1776 and 1789 was the world ruled by Kings and they felt they owned the colonies, land, people, and crops. They could determine how people lived. The ideas in the Declaration and constitution were truly revolutionary and turned the world upside down. The king was no longer on the top of the pyramid, but he was knocked off and the 90% of the people were able to rule their own lives.
Thomas Jefferson, for one, was an advocate of Locke's ideals of human rights, as summed up by the phrase "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".
Enlightenment thinkers such as the leaders Thomas Hobbes and John Locke influenced the framers of the US Constitution with their radical and political ideas.
European EnlightenmentMost political scientists and historians credit John Locke as the greatest individual influence on the formation of the US. Others included French thinkers like Rousseau.
Several of the ideas in the Constitution were new, and a large number of ideas were drawn from the literature of Republicanism in the United States, from the experiences of the 13 states, and from the British experience with mixed government. The most important influence from the European continent was from Montesquieu, who emphasized the need to have balanced forces pushing against each other to prevent tyranny. (This in itself reflects the influence of Polybius' 2nd-century BC treatise on the checks and balances of the constitution of the Roman Republic.) John Locke is known to have been a major influence, and the due process clause of the United States Constitution was partly based on common law stretching back to the Magna Carta of 1215.
The Monroe Doctrine.
North America
The Bill of Rights is an example of how Enlightenment is reflected in the United?æStates Constitution. The Bill of Rights makes sure the government is held responsible for protecting its citizens.