Presentation Transcript

1. Enlightenment Period

   Early philosophies and philosophers that influenced the establishment of the American Government.
2. The Enlightenment The enlightenment period was a time when western philosophies began to change, and reasoning started to be used. This can be connected to the United States constitution because when the constitution was being written the founding fathers who based it of the philosophy which developed it off of free development not the bible. They wanted to stay away from the monarchy that they had been ruled by before. They looked to the enlightenment philosophy’s of a democracy and they decided to try it.
3. Common Law! http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.lib.nus.edu.sg The Common Law is a law common to everyone which protects the rights of citizens involving property. It is to make it harder for the government to take away your property without due process of the law. This law came from England and it was brought up by our founding fathers and is the basis of all law in America today. Property is also what you own in the case of the common law, this includes hard money (gold/silver). The Common Law also was branched off of the Roman Civil Law.
4. The Magna Carta Latin for Great Charter June 15 1215 signed by King John at Runnymede Promises: King John would rule by Feudal Law Source of many of our fundamental laws One of the original Magna Carta’s is at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia Our founding fathers studied it as they were writing our constitution
5. There are 63 rules of the Magna Carta Gave English liberty to those who fell under the rules of the Magna Carta Created with a Christian basis followed by the Holy Church King John at Runnymede was the first to establish the Mana Carta http://www.google.com=/
6. English Bill of Rights (1688) An Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown The English Bill of Rights proclaimed fundamental liberties, including freedom of elections, freedom of debate in Parliament, and freedom from excessive bail and from cruel and unusual punishments. The English Bill of Rights helped influence the American government in creating the American Bill of Rights http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_of_Rights_1689
7. “Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern “

   Mayflower Compact

   The Mayflower Compact was a written agreement composed on November 11th,, 1620 by a consensus of 41 male pilgrims who recently settled in New Plymouth. It was drawn up with fair & equal laws,and prevented church members from leaving and creating their own colony. It was written while anchored by Cape Cod, and the compact became the basis of government in the Plymouth Colony. Image from bookrags.com

8. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)

   “‘All mankind is in a perpetual and restless desire for power….that stops only in death.’ Consequently, giving power to the individual would create a dangerous situation that would start a ‘war of every man against every man’ and make life like human nature ‘solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.’” -Leviathan Biography: -April 5, 1588 in England -Started at the age of 14 and graduated from Oxford in 1608 -Traveled all over conversing with scholars such as Sir Francis Bacon, Descartes and Galileo to discuss science and different forms of government The most famous and influential work by Hobbes was his publishing of “Leviathan”in 1651.
9. Beliefs in Government: -Absolute Monarch -Sea Monster or Leviathan -All the power to the King or Queen -Governments created to protect against the people’s own evil imranha.tumblr.com Philosophical Ideas: Man is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short -People are naturally selfish and wicked and could not be trusted to govern -Nations were also selfishly motivated always seeking out power and wealth filipspagnoli.wordpress.com
10. John Locke Born on August 29th, 1632 Father named John Locke, country lawyer and clerk to the Justices of the peace in Chew Magna. Mother named Agnes Keene, a tanner’s daughter. Both parents were puritans. http://academic.shu.edu/honors/2103.html
11. John Locke In 1647, he was sent to Westminister School located in London. Alexander Popham, whos was a member of parliament, sent Locke a scholarship to pay for the very prestigeous school. Studied medicine with Sydenham who is a notable english physician from the 17th century. http://www.sydenham.org.uk/thomas_sydenham.html
12. Philisophical Ideas John Locke was an english philosopher and physician, and considerd one of the most influiential enlightenment thinkers. John Locke followed Sir Francis Bacon and was considerd equally as important to the social contract theory. John Locke had a very big impact on the making of epostemology and politicial philosophy. The contributions he had to classic rebublicanism and liberal theory are reflected in the American Decleration of Independence.
13. Major Pieces of Work http://de.academic.ru/dic.nsf/dewiki/1420762 Second Treatise on Civil Government(1689) His most famous work is all about a civil society based on natural rights and his contract theory. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690) This work concerns the foundation of human knowledge and understanding, revolving around his idea of Tabula Rasa. (everyone born with a blank mind, then molded by society).
14. Baron de Montesquieu Picture Source: www.mailer.fsu.edu He was most famous for his work detailing his idea to separate administrative powers into three branches: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. He was born in France in 1689. He died in Paris in 1755 at the age of 66 from a high fever. His 1st major work was Persian Letters published in 1721, a satire on contemporary society.
15. Jean Jacques Rousseau???
16. Francois Voltaire Biography Did not get much out of school, left at 17 Befriended Parisian aristocrats Wrote a satire of the French government and went to prison for about 11 months Adopted “Voltaire” while he was in prison and also wrote “Oedipe” during this time http://publicquotes.com/img/source/francois-voltaire.jpg Chose to be exiled instead of imprisoned, he went to England Wrote about English customs, was criticized by the French and had to leave Paris again
17. Francois Voltaire Philosophical Ideas Agreed with the beliefs of John Locke and Isaac Newton Interested in England’s constitutional monarchy and it’s religious tolerance Interested in philosophical rationalism of the time period and the study of natural sciences Thought that war was useless, no honor and glory on the battlefield Optimistic philosopher during the Enlightenment period