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Enlightenment Ideologies and the US Constitution: Founding Principles and Compromises, Assignments of History

Western Governors University (WGU)History

The influence of enlightenment ideas on the founding of the united states, focusing on john locke's social contract theory and its impact on the declaration of independence and the constitution. It discusses the great compromise and the separation of powers, providing examples of checks and balances across different branches of government. The document offers a concise overview of key concepts in american politics and constitutional history, suitable for students studying the foundations of the u.s. Government. It also touches on the articles of confederation and their limitations, setting the stage for the establishment of the constitution in 1789.

Typology: Assignments

2025/2026

Available from 12/02/2025

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American Politics and The US Constitution
C963
September 18, 2025
Founding Ideologies
Task 1
A.
Explain how Enlightenment ideas influenced the founding of the United
States:
The Age of Enlightenment was a movement in Europe centered around thinking
and philosophy. Beginning in the mid-1600s and lasting for approximately 150
years, it was a period of time where there was a philosophical focus on
individualism and liberty. This focus would be an inspiration in the founding of
the American Republic. It would also be central to the dream of the founding
fathers who imagined a country that would be forever free in realizing a
democratic government. Among the ideas and concepts central to the age of
enlightenment were those propounded by the celebrated thinker, physician, and
philosopher, John Locke. Known as the father of liberalism, and regarded as the
most influential of the Enlightenment thinkers, Locke postulated ideas concerning
natural rights and their relationship with the government. Yet, among all his
contributions, one that could be viewed as the most distinctive in its contribution
to the establishment of the American Republic is that of the social contract theory.
A codifled and qualifled agreement between a people and their government in
which citizens consent to governance so long as that governance protects their
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American Politics and The US Constitution

C

September 18, 2025

Founding Ideologies

Task 1

A. Explain how Enlightenment ideas influenced the founding of the United States: The Age of Enlightenment was a movement in Europe centered around thinking and philosophy. Beginning in the mid-1600s and lasting for approximately 150 years, it was a period of time where there was a philosophical focus on individualism and liberty. This focus would be an inspiration in the founding of the American Republic. It would also be central to the dream of the founding fathers who imagined a country that would be forever free in realizing a democratic government. Among the ideas and concepts central to the age of enlightenment were those propounded by the celebrated thinker, physician, and philosopher, John Locke. Known as the father of liberalism, and regarded as the most influential of the Enlightenment thinkers, Locke postulated ideas concerning natural rights and their relationship with the government. Yet, among all his contributions, one that could be viewed as the most distinctive in its contribution to the establishment of the American Republic is that of the social contract theory. A codifled and qualifled agreement between a people and their government in which citizens consent to governance so long as that governance protects their

natural rights. Those rights being life, liberty, and property. These ideas would lay a philosophical foundation in the minds of the Founding Fathers, speciflcally through Thomas Jefterson. John Locke's ideas were highly influential in shaping Jefterson's beliefs in natural rights and their relationship to the government. Lockean ideas would later play a substantial role in the Declaration of Independence, where echoes of his ideology can be not only understood, but almost even reproduced word for word. Where Lockes, Life Liberty, and Property, transposes to Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness, in Hamilitons prose, the influence and ideas are evident. They both spoke to inherent rights, inalienable and fundamental to all humans from birth, not given by government. These very same concepts and ideas and influences are also evident in the predecessor to the Constitution in the Articles of Confederation. Where the Declaration of Independence articulated these rights and their necessity in America's separation from Great Britain, the Articles of Confederation was the flrst U.S. Constitution, giving the 13 American colonies a framework and structure for a new nation with an emphasis on limited government. The Articles of Confederation's primary directive was to protect the rights and liberties of states and citizens, central to Lockean philosophy. It would eventually fail as it proved too weak to truly serve its people as it was incapable of regulating trade or levying proper taxes, as well as protect the expansive interest of a nation in its emergence. Ultimately, these limitations proved too large of a hindrance. It's ironic that this minimalist government led to disunity among the states. That irony also set the stage and provided the foundation for the establishment of the Constitution of the United States in 1789. The Constitution established a more unifled federal government

  • legislative (i.e., House of Representatives and Senate) The Senate and the House of Representatives are collectively called Congress. Congress is the only branch that can declare war.
  • executive (i.e., President and Cabinet) The executive branch consists of the president, the vice president, and the civil service bureaucracy. The president is the only person who can grant pardons that are not subject to checks from any other branches.
  • judicial (i.e., Supreme Court) The Supreme Court consists of the Supreme Court Justices. The Supreme Court can use judicial review. Judicial review is the authority of the Supreme Court to determine if a congressional act is unconstitutional. D. Describe the application of checks and balances across two or more branches of government. Include a speciflc example: The legislative branch, also known as Congress, has the ability to pass laws. The executive branch, through the president, has the ability to check the legislative branch through the use and power of its ability to veto legislation once it has passed both chambers of the legislature. Presidential vetoes can be overturned congressionally through a two-thirds majority vote as well. Presidential nominations to the Supreme Court are conflrmed by the legislative branch.

E.

WGU (2025) C963 American Politics and the US Constitution, Western Governors University, https://my.wgu.edu/courses/course/