By: Becca, Mae, Skylar, Joe, and Catherine Baron de Montesquieu By: Becca, Mae, Skylar, Joe, and Catherine

Biography Name: Charles-Louis de Secondat Born at the Chateau de la Bede in southwest France on the 18th of January 1689 Inherited name Baron de Montesquieu after the death of his uncle Died on the 10th of February 1755

Montesquieu’s Parents Father, Jacques de Secondat, was a soldier with long noble ancestry Mother, Marie Francoise de Pesnel, died when Montesquieu was 7 Mother was female inheritor of a large monetary inheritance who brought the title of barony of Le Brede to the Secondat family

Early life and Childhood Despite his wealthy family, Montesquieu was raised by a poor family He went to college to study science and history, and later became a lawyer in the local government Wrote the following: Le Temple de Gnide in 1725 The spirit of the Laws in 1748 Persian Letters in 1721

Self-Government Did not believe people could govern themselves Believed there should be a non-despotic government whose laws leave the people to live their lives mainly free He knew the government could not have so many laws because they would oppress the people

Humankind: Good or Bad? Could be good is strong set of principles from educators Believes if you don’t have a good education then you are subject to ignorance and error Thought some were better then others, like many during his time Believed only white men could rule

Underlying Ideas Behind Thinking Believed people from Europe were better then everybody else People are effected by the climate Example: people in hotter climates (Africans) were hot tempered due to the hotter climate Believed France and Europe has the best climate making them the best

Beliefs in Government He believed that all things were made up of rules or laws that never changed Elected government was the best form of government Three types of government: Monarchy- ruled by king or queen Republic- ruled by elected leader Despotism – ruled by dictator

Separation of Powers Named the idea of dividing government power into three branches “separation o powers” Power should be balanced between three groups of officials He thought England should have divided power between: King- enforced the laws Parliament- made the laws Judges of the English court- interpreted laws

Powers of the Branches Each branch have equal however different powers Too much power should not be given to one branch Each branch could limit power of another branch Ideas became basis of the United States Constitution

Symbol Representation

Works Cited http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/montesquieu/montesquieu-bio.html http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/phl302/philosophers/montesquieu.html