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Montesquieu
Montesquieu argued that the best government
would be one in which power was balanced among
three groups of officials. He thought England which divided power between the king (who
enforced laws), Parliament (which made laws), and
the judges of the English courts (who interpreted
laws) - was a good model of this. Montesquieu
called the idea of dividing government power into
three branches the "separation of powers." He
thought it most important to create separate
branches of government with equal but different
powers. That way, the government would avoid
placing too much power with one individual or
group of individuals. He wrote, "When the [law
making] and [law enforcement] powers are united
in the same person... there can be no liberty."
According to Montesquieu, each branch of
government could limit the power of the other two
branches. Therefore, no branch of the government
could threaten the freedom of the people. His ideas
about separation of powers became the basis for
the United States Constitution.
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http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/montesquieu/montesquieu-­‐bio.html (S2D)
Thomas Paine
Thomas Paine was an influential 18th-century writer of essays and pamphlets. Among them were
"The Age of Reason," regarding the place of religion in society; "Rights of Man," a piece
defending the French Revolution; and "Common Sense," which was published during the
American Revolution. "Common Sense," Paine's most influential piece, brought his ideas to a
vast audience, swaying (the otherwise undecided) public opinion to the view that independence
from the British was a necessity.
Worded in a way that forces the reader to make an immediate choice, "Common Sense"
presented the American colonists, who were generally still undecided, with a cogent argument
for full-scale revolt and freedom from British rule.
And while it likely had little effect on the actual writing of the Declaration of Independence,
"Common Sense" forced the issue on the streets, making the colonists see that a grave issue was
upon them and that a public discussion was direly needed. Once it initiated debate, the article
offered a solution for Americans who were disgusted and alarmed at the presence of tyranny in
their new land, and it was passed around and read aloud often, bolstering enthusiasm for
independence and encouraging recruitment for the Continental Army. ("Common Sense" is
referred to by one historian as "the most incendiary and popular pamphlet of the entire
revolutionary era.")Paine wrote "Common Sense" in an unadorned style, forgoing philosophical
ponderings and Latin terms, and relying instead on biblical references to speak to the common
man, as would a sermon. Within just a few months, the piece sold more than 500,000 copies.
"Common Sense" presents as its chief option a distinctly American political identity and, more
so than any other single publication, paved the way for the Declaration of Independence, which
was unanimously ratified on July 4, 1776.
-­‐ http://www.biography.com/print/profile/thomas-paine-9431951
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Jefferson
In June 1776, the Congress appointed a five-man committee (Jefferson, John
Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman and Robert Livingston) to draft a
Declaration of Independence. The committee then chose Jefferson to author the
declaration's first draft, selecting him for what John Adams called his "happy talent
for composition and singular felicity of expression." Over the next 17 days,
Jefferson drafted one of the most beautiful and powerful testaments to liberty and
equality in world history.
The document opened with a preamble stating the natural rights of all human
beings and then continued on to enumerate specific grievances against King
George III that absolved the American colonies of any allegiance to the British
Crown. Although the Declaration of Independence adopted on July 4, 1776 had
undergone a series of revisions from Jefferson's original draft, its immortal words
remain essentially his own: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men
are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
After authoring the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson returned to Virginia,
where, from 1776 to 1779, he served as a member of the Virginia House of
Delegates.
-­‐ http://www.biography.com/people/thomas-jefferson