Basis for the US Constitution

The US Constitution (as written) was based on the ideas expressed by the most influential writers of their time.

European politics, philosophy, science and communications were radically reoriented during the course of the “long 18th century” (1685-1815) as part of a movement referred to by its participants as the Age of Reason, or simply the Enlightenment.

The Founders selected a handful of writers whose ideas made sense and they used these ideas to design the government of the United States. These political philosophers are as follows:

Edmund Burke (1723-1792) He was born in Dublin Ireland and served in the British Parliament. He warned Parliament that the American Colonies would probably win the Revolutionary War because they valued liberty. He also warned that the French Revolution in 1789 would result in chaos.  He believed in free market economics and the necessity of having a moral citizenry. 

John Locke (1632-1704) He was born in England and received degrees in medicine and philosophy from Oxford. His writings on human nature included man’s inalienable rights from God and that all men were created equal and government requires the consent of the governed.  He believed in private property, free market economics and religious tolerance.

Voltaire (1694-1778) François-Marie Arouet published his writings using the name Voltaire. He was born I France and educated at College Louis le Grand. Voltaire was a versatile and prolific writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays and historical and scientific works. He studied everything. He lived in several countries and praised England for its constitutional monarchy and sense of liberty. He criticized religious intolerance. He was a rebel.

Rousseau (1712-1778) Jean-Jacques Rousseau was born in Switzerland and was a philosopher, writer, and composer of the 18th century, mainly active in France. His writings on human behavior and society encouraged individualism and rejected group-think. He accurately described the range of behaviors human beings are capable of.  He was a realist.

Montesquieu (1689-1755) He was born in France, attended Collège de Juilly and became a Lawyer. He was Counselor to the Parliament. In his political writings, he pleaded for a constitutional system of government with separation of powers, the preservation of legality and civil liberties, and the end of slavery. He wrote to discourage “despotism”. He endorsed nation-states designed for their citizens.

Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) He was born in England and studied at Magdalen Hall, the predecessor college to Hertford College, Oxford. He was a rebel. He studied the physics of motion, human behavior and political structures.  He wrote “Leviathan” in 1651 and established social contract theory, the foundation for Western political philosophy that described individual liberty and equality.

Adam Smith (1723-1790) He was born in Scotland, educated at Oxford and became an economist, philosopher and author. Smith laid the foundations of classical free market economic theory. The Wealth of Nations was a precursor to the modern academic discipline of economics. In this and other works, he developed the concept of division of labor and expounded upon how rational self-interest and competition can lead to economic prosperity.

The Founders wanted to establish a government that would allow all of its citizens to adopt self-governance and prosper. They established the US economy as a free market economy where supply and demand determined prices. They established basic human rights to be self-supporting, to own property and be governed by laws they controlled as voters to elect representatives to serve as legislators, judges and administrators. The federal government was bound by the limits of its enumerated powers.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader