Individual Rights During The Enlightenment

Two hundred and twenty nine years ago, the great founding fathers convened in Philadelphia and discussed the government of the United States. Their initial plan was to revise the Articles of Confederation, their first attempted government, but that summer of 1787 marked the new revolution of government in America. The Constitutional Convention was delegated by twelve of the thirteen states, which collectively consisted of fifty-five representatives. Additionally, more than half of the brilliant minds who contrived the Constitution obtained a vast education, and attended universities that are presently defined as Ivy League. As a result, the framers’ education assisted them in the process of creating the Constitution, because they actively studied

During the Enlightenment, the people started to differ in beliefs and realize what was most relevant. Specifically, the citizens apprehended that their rights must be recognized, and that no one should be treated with more or less respect than any other person. Thus, natural rights were constituted into the lives of the Enlightenment. Natural Rights are rights that are automatically granted to one at birth, and ensures equality among all individuals. John Locke introduced this concept during the Enlightenment, and disliked divine rights given to individuals by God. Individual rights have their own section of the Constitution, which is the Bill of Rights. They explain the rights that cannot be taken away from citizens in depth. The Enlightenment influenced the Constitution with the idea of Natural Rights to protect the individual rights of citizens from the government. Additionally, Montesquieu believed that separation of powers should be used to limit the power of the government. According to Montesquieu, this idea would work by creating three branches, which each had specific jobs to prevent an abuse of power. This was revealed in his book, The Spirit of Laws, which read “To prevent this abuse, it is necessary, from the very nature of things,

The founders utilized several sources to establish the experimental government of the United States, and took away substantial principles. Each contributed through shedding light on past experiences, which allowed the founders to correct their mistakes in the Constitution. Additionally, governments that were recognized to succeed exist in parts of the Constitution as well as the government. Specifically, ancient civilizations provided principles such as republicanism, popular sovereignty, and checks and balances. Republicanism and popular sovereignty are America’s primary government style represented through a democracy, and checks and balances are regularly used in the branches to balance power. Furthermore, Britain's experience was one of the origins of individual rights, limited government, and checks and balances. Individual rights are prominently used in the Constitution to protect and recognize the people’s inalienable rights, and limited government is used to prevent the government from taking away those rights and getting too involved in the state legislature. Lastly, the Enlightenment provided the concepts of individual rights, popular sovereignty, limited government, separation of powers, and checks and balances. Separation of powers was used within the three branches to clarify