The Enlightenment

1. The Enlightenment The Enlightenment philosophers sought to understand the world through logic and reason, applying the scientific method to the study of society They opposed the overbearing Catholic Church and favored governments with protections for individual rights.

2. Common Law • group of rulings made by judges based on custom of the community and previous court decisions • Forms an essential part of legal system in many English-speaking countries—U.S. included • Originated in the 11th and 12th centuries of England in the monarchies’ courts • Judges ruled cases according to how they interpreted community laws • If a judge ruled in similar, previous case, then the ruling would be used as a precedent or guide • If this happened enough times, it became a law • U.S. legal system developed on English common law and equity • Except Louisiana, which is French civil law

3. Magna Carta Archbishop Stephen Langton English charter issued in 1215, later re-issued in the 13thcentury in a modified version. The 1215 Charter required King John of England to proclaim certain liberties, and accept that his will was not arbitrary to that of the freeman. It formed the basis of citizens rights. The first document forced onto an English King by a group of his subjects, the feudal barons, in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges. This document played a key role in the rule of constitutional law in English speaking countries.

4. About the English Bill of Rights-The Bill of Rights actual name is “an act of declaring the rights and liberties of the subject and settling the succession of the crown”. It’s a basic document of English constitutional law, alongside Magna Carta and the Parliament Acts. Authors wrote it to give citizens a free and democratic society. It was signed of as a law by King William III in 1689. A reason why our Constitution and our Bill of Rights is very similar to the English Bill of Rights is because our forefathers where influenced by the documentation and therefore thought it would be a good idea to model it after the English Bill of Rights. The English Bill of Rights

5. The Mayflower Compact was a written agreement composed by a group of the New Settlers arriving at New Plymouth in November of 1620. John Adams referred the Mayflower Compact as the foundation of the United States Constitution which was written more than 150 years later. The original document was said to be lost but the writings of Edward William Bradford’s personal journal is accepted and accurate. The Mayflower Compact was written with a fair and equal set of laws for the general good of the settlement and with the ‘majorities vote’. The Mayflower Compact itself states that pilgrims would have to obey the laws made for the common good of the colony. The way that the Compact was written, made it seem as the pilgrims were very religious and largely believed in God.

6. Philosophical ideas:-rejects Cartesian dualism • Viewed man to be solitary, poor, nasty brutish • Argued that mans natural state is anti social and that moral rules are created to avoid chaos • Human beings only pursue their own self interest Thomas Hobbes View on government: -Believed best for of government is an absolute monarchy. -Reserves the liberty of disobeying some of the government commands. -Right of self defense against sovereign power Biography: Born in Westpoint, Wiltshire on April 5, 1588 -Studied at Magdelan Hall in Oxford -Published Leviathan in 1951 -First five general principles in the Leviathan

7. John Locke Born August 29, 1632 in England. Died October 28,1704. "Essay Concerning Human Understandings” "Letter Concerning Toleration” Life, Liberty, Property.

8. Baron de montesquieu • Charles-Louis de Secondat • Born in Bordeaux, France, 1689 to a wealthy family raised in the care of a poor family • College ----- studied science and history, became a lawyer • Father died in 1713, care fell to his uncle, who was the baron, he died making Charles the new baron • 1721 published his Persian letters which criticized lifestyles and liberties of the wealthy, as well as the church • 1748 – Spirit of Laws, his most famous work that outlined ideas on how a government would work best

9. "In a true state of nature, indeed, all men are born equal, but they cannot continue in this equality. Society makes them lose it, and they recover it only by the protection of laws." • He believed that all things were made up of rules/laws that never change • Government should be balanced between three groups of officials • Groups to: • Enforce laws • Make laws • Interpret laws • Separation of powers – no branches of government can threaten the freedom of the people • Believed in democracybut not that all people were equal. • Held the belief that women were weaker than men and should obey the commands of their husbands by the also felt that women did have the ability to govern

10. "In a true state of nature, indeed, all men are born equal, but they cannot continue in this equality. Society makes them lose it, and they recover it only by the protection of laws." • He believed that all things were made up of rules/laws that never change • Government should be balanced between three groups of officials • Groups to: • Enforce laws • Make laws • Interpret laws • Separation of powers – no branches of government can threaten the freedom of the people • Believed in democracybut not that all people were equal. • Held the belief that women were weaker than men and should obey the commands of their husbands by the also felt that women did have the ability to govern

11. Voltaire was born in Paris, France in 1694. He was loved by everyone because of his ability to write and his gift of making people laugh. Voltaire is famous for such works as Candide; his ideas on the nature of good and evil. Another is Oedipe, an epic tragedy he wrote in his first time in prison for insulting the government. It became very successful in 1718. Voltaire believed in a government ruled by a strong monarch supported by a group of philosophers like himself. He also believed that the French bourgeoisie was too small and weak. In Voltaire’s mind he thought that the aristocracy was a parasite on the common man and thought that the common man was ignorant and superstitious. Voltaire preached that the church was created to be a counter balance to the monarchy. Voltaire fought for religious freedom and civil rights. As Voltaire once said “ A man is free at the moment he wishes to be.”