Enlightenment Ideas, Democratic Ideals, and the Founding of American Government

Enlightenment Foundations

Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan, $1660$ ): Argued for the social contract where people exchange freedom for order under a strong monarch.
John Locke (Second Treatise on Civil Government, $1690$ ): Proposed natural rights ( $life, liberty, property$ ) and tabula rasa; government exists only to protect these rights and requires consent.
Charles de Montesquieu (The Spirit of the Laws, $1748$ ): Advocated for the separation of powers into three branches and checks and balances.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (The Social Contract, $1762$ ): Argued that government should act for the greater good of society.
Voltaire (Candide): Championed rationality and freedom of thought, speech, and religion; criticized concentrated religious and noble power.
Denis Diderot: Promoted universal access to education and freedom of expression through the first encyclopedia.

Natural Rights: Inherent rights (not granted by government) that the state is obligated to protect.
Social Contract: Logic that government authority is legitimate only with the consent of the governed; citizens can abolish a government that violates this contract.
Declaration of Independence ( $1776$ ): Written by Thomas Jefferson; applied Enlightenment ideas as a formal separation from Great Britain and a list of grievances against King George III.
Republicanism: System where citizens rule indirectly through elected representatives; emphasizes popular sovereignty and civic virtue.

Participatory Democracy: Emphasizes broad involvement in politics by ordinary citizens.
Pluralist Democracy: Views policy as a product of competition and bargaining among diverse groups (interest groups, parties).
Elite Democracy: Suggests political power is concentrated among the wealthy and highly educated.
Direct Democracy: Citizens vote directly on laws; used in the $U.S.$ at state/local levels via ballot initiatives.

Structure: Unicameral Congress with one vote per state; lacked a national executive and judiciary.
Weaknesses: Could not levy taxes, regulate interstate commerce, or effectively raise a military; required a $\frac{9}{13}$ majority for laws and unanimous consent for amendments.
Achievements: Northwest Ordinance and the Treaty of Paris ( $1783$ ).
Shays’ Rebellion ( $1786$ - $1787$ ): A $6\text{-month}$ uprising by over $1,000\text{ farmers}$ in Massachusetts that demonstrated the national government's inability to maintain order.

Virginia Plan: Bicameral legislature with representation based on population.
New Jersey Plan: Unicameral legislature with equal representation per state.
Great (Connecticut) Compromise: Created a bicameral legislature with a population-based House and an equal-representation Senate ( $2\text{ per state}$ ).
Three-Fifths Compromise: Counted individuals who were enslaved as $\frac{3}{5}$ of a person for representation and taxation.
Electoral College: System for selecting the executive where each state has electors equal to its total congressional representation ( $538\text{ total; } 270\text{ to win}$ ).

Federalists: Encouraged ratification and a strong central government; authors of The Federalist Papers (Hamilton, Madison, Jay).
Anti-Federalists: Favored state sovereignty and local control; demanded a Bill of Rights to protect liberties (e.g., Brutus No. $1$ ).
Federalist No. $10$ : Madison argued that a large republic controls the negative effects of factions.
Federalist No. $51$ : Madison detailed how separation of powers and checks and balances prevent tyranny.
Federalist No. $70$ : Hamilton argued for a single, energetic executive to ensure accountability.
Federalist No. $78$ : Hamilton advocated for a national judiciary with the power of judicial review.

Articles I-III: Establish the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches respectively.
Necessary and Proper Clause: Article I, Section $8$ ( $Elastic Clause$ ); grants Congress implied powers to execute enumerated duties.
Supremacy Clause: Article VI; establishes federal law as supreme over conflicting state laws.
Commerce Clause: Grants Congress power to regulate interstate commercial activity.
Amendment Process: Traditionally requires a $\frac{2}{3}$ vote in both houses and ratification by $\frac{3}{4}$ of states.

Enumerated (Delegated) Powers: Specifically listed for the national government (e.g., coining money, declaring war).
Reserved Powers ( $10^{th}\text{ Amendment}$ ): Powers not delegated to the national government are kept by the states.
Concurrent Powers: Shared by both levels (e.g., taxing, building roads).
Dual Federalism ( $Layer Cake$ ): Clear separation between national and state spheres.
Cooperative Federalism ( $Marble Cake$ ): Blended responsibilities and collaboration between levels.
Fiscal Federalism: National influence through grants-in-aid (Categorical grants with strict rules; Block grants with broad targets).

Marbury v. Madison ( $1803$ ): Established the power of judicial review.
McCulloch v. Maryland ( $1819$ ): Confirmed the constitutionality of implied powers (National Bank) and reinforced federal supremacy.
Gibbons v. Ogden ( $1824$ ): Broadly defined the federal government's authority to regulate interstate commerce.
United States v. Lopez ( $1995$ ): Limited the scope of the commerce clause by striking down the Gun-Free School Zones Act of $1990$ .