Question

Explain how the framers of the Constitution applied Enlightenment ideas in creating the new government??

Answer 1

Constitution of the United States
Constitution of the United States, the fundamental law of the United States of America. Drafted by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pa., between May 25 and Sept. 17, 1787, it is the world's oldest written constitution still in effect. The document presents a set of general principles out of which implementing statutes and codes have emerged. As such, it embodies the essence of constitutionality—that government must be confined by the rule of law.

The success of the framers of the U.S. Constitution in writing a document geared to serving the varied and changing needs of Americans has been complemented by an ability on the part of successive Congresses and courts to readapt it to these changing demands. The Constitution's 27 amendments, added over a period of 200 years, have in most cases plugged minor loopholes rather than changed the focus or the general structure of the document. As Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt stated in his first inaugural address on March 4, 1933, "Our Constitution is so simple and practical that it is possible always to meet extraordinary needs by changes in emphasis and arrangement without loss of essential form. That is why our constitutional system has proved itself the most superbly enduring political mechanism the modern world has produced."

Basic Principles. The Constitution was a product of the thought of the 18th-century "Age of the Enlightenment." European and American philosophers, such as John Locke, Voltaire, Montesquieu, and Thomas Paine, attacked despotic government and advanced the following ideas: that government comes from below, not from above, and that it derives its powers from the consent of the governed; that individuals have certain natural, inalienable rights; that it is wise and feasible to distribute and balance powers within government, giving local powers to local governments, and general powers to the national government; that all persons are born equal and should be treated as equal before the law.

The framers of the U.S. Constitution sought to do what, as yet, Europeans had not tried: to make these Enlightenment ideas the governing principles of a nation. Hence, the document stressed that the people were forming the government and were themselves dividing power in such a way as to afford checks and balances on its use and potential abuse.

The allotting to the federal government of only those powers specifically delegated—a principle that was further bolstered by the addition of the 10th Amendment—made clear that the residual powers would remain with the local units of government. The creation of three separate branches within the federal structure, each in numerous ways dependent upon the others for its healthy functioning, afforded another way to ensure that federal power would not be used indiscriminately. The extensive powers of the president likewise were proscribed in a number of places by designated responsibilities. The judicial power, which the framers clearly intended to "extend to all cases, in law and equity, rising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made under their authority," was to be wielded by judges, "holding their offices during good behaviour"; explicit jurisdiction of the courts was subject to congressional definition and, by implication, redefinition.