NAME _______________________________________ DATE _______________ CLASS _________
Analyzing Primary Sources
Activity
netw rks
Colonizing America, Prehistory to 1754
—from The Spirit of Laws, 1752
Background
During the eighteenth century, American colonists encountered new
political and religious philosophies that had a significant effect on both
their culture and how they viewed their relationship with England. The
Enlightenment, which emerged in eighteenth-century Europe, stressed the
power of human reason to understand the mysteries of the universe and
to better the human condition.
One Enlightenment idea that gained particular traction was the notion
of a social contract, an agreement between citizens and their government
that laid out the expectations and responsibilities of each. The concept of
a social contract played an important role in the thinking that led to the
colonists’ eventual declaration of independence from England.
Directions: Read the following excerpt from Baron Montesquieu’s work The
Spirit of Laws. Then answer the questions that follow.
“The political liberty of the subject is a tranquility of mind arising from the
opinion each person has of his safety. In order to have this liberty, it is requisite
the government be so constituted as one man need not be afraid of another.
When the legislative and executive powers are united in the same person,
or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty; because
apprehensions may arise, lest the same monarch or senate should enact
tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical manner.
Again, there is no liberty, if the judiciary power be not separated from the
legislative and executive. Were it joined with the legislative, the life and liberty
of the subject would be exposed to arbitrary control; for the judge would be
then the legislator. Were it joined to the executive power, the judge might
behave with violence and oppression.
There would be an end of everything, were the same man or the same body,
whether of the nobles or of the people, to exercise those three powers, that
of enacting laws, that of executing the public resolutions, and of trying the
causes of individuals.”
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.
Baron Montesquieu, the French philosopher and writer, played an
especially influential role in the development of Enlightenment ideas.
He wrote extensively about the evils of despotism and of ways to
combat government corruption. Montesquieu’s belief in the separation
of governmental powers had a profound impact on the framers of the
U.S. constitution.
NAME _______________________________________ DATE _______________ CLASS _________
Analyzing Primary Sources
Activity Cont.
netw rks
Colonizing America, Prehistory to 1754
Critical Thinking
1.
What do you think Montesquieu meant when he wrote “it is necessary
for the government to be so constituted as one man need not be
afraid of another”?
2.
Why does Montesquieu believe that there can be no liberty when “the
legislative and executive powers are united in the same body
of magistrates”?
3.
How did Montesquieu’s ideas influence the framing of the
U.S. Constitution?
4.
Think about what you know about the U.S. government today. Do you
think Montesquieu would approve of how the three branches of
government work today? Why or why not?
Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Permission is granted to reproduce for classroom use.