Influencing Philosophers

Richie Bazzy

Have you ever thought about how different our world would be if the enlightenment did

not have such influential philosophers? The Enlightenment was a new era. It was a change in art,

science, thinking and much more. The Enlightenment started in the early 1700s. Enlightenment

thinkers could solve social, political, and economic power. This time era contained many

important philosophers that influenced our world today. Philosophers from the Enlightenment

helped shape our governments documents into what they are today. The documents are the

Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson. Thomas had some

help while writing it. The two philosophers John Locke and Voltaire helped influence Thomas

Jefferson while he was composing the document. The Declaration of Independence is about what

Locke believed in. Locke believed in natural rights, which are the rights of life, liberty and

property. According to https://fee.org, He expressed the radical view that government is morally

obliged to serve people, namely by protecting life, liberty, and property. He explained the

principle of checks and balances to limit government power. He favored representative

government and a rule of law. He denounced tyranny. He insisted that when government violates

individual rights, people may legitimately rebel. He believed that people were good. Voltaire

was one of the leading philosophers in the Enlightenment. He believed in the freedom of

religion, press, and the separation of church and state. He is the reason we have the freedom that

we have today.

The Constitution was influenced but many philosophers as well. A philosopher named

Montesquieu. He was a political philosopher who studied the branches of government. He is the
reason why we have the separation of powers which is the three branches of government in our

world today. Jean Jacque Rousseau was a philosopher who believed that humans were really

good. He also believed that people should have some freedom. Him believing in more freedom is

a good thing.

The Enlightenment was an era of new thinking. This time era held many great

philosophers. If these philosophers did not influence the writers of the declaration of

Independence and the Constitution then our world would be very different today. We would not

have as many freedoms as we have, we would not be able to speak freely as we do today. These

philosophers helped change the world to make it a better place for those today.