Historia

Paola Safi A01192522 gp. 105
January 27, 2012
Paola Safi A01192522 gp. 105
January 27, 2012


Enlightenment’s influence on the Bill of Rights.

The most important ideas of theenlightenment were to centralize the government, give people more freedom and more rights, and equality was also a very important idea. The philosophes of this era believed that laws would regulate society,economy and morality. John Locke, one of the philosophes, believed that God established divine laws, that we can’t change them and we should act according to them. Montesquieu, another philosophe, believedin the separation of powers; executive, legislative, judicial. Finally, Voltaire, another philosophe, believed that all religions should be treated equally.

How do these ideas influence the Billof Rights? The bill of rights gives people more freedom and rights. One of them is like Voltaire’s idea of religion, the government couldn’t force you to practice a religion that you didn’t wanted,they should respect your religion and treat everyone equally. Montesquieu’s idea of the separation of powers was also reflected in the bill of rights; the executive branch is the president, thelegislative branch includes the senate and representatives, and the judicial branch consists of the Supreme Court and other federal courts. In conclusion, the bill of rights is a very important document thatis filled with enlightenment ideas and it changed the society in a very good way, because thanks to enlightenment’s ideas and the Bill of Rights, we are free individuals and we have rights and thepower to defend ourselves.

Sources:
"The Enlightenment." Think Quest. Web. <http://library.thinkquest.org/C006257/revolution/the_enlightenment

"Separation of Powers - Definition of Separationof Powers." American History From About. Web. 26 Jan. 2012. <http://americanhistory.about.com/od/usconstitution/g/sep_of_po

"Bill of Rights Transcript Text." National Archives and Records...