4.3 Ideas That Influenced the Constitution A. The Lessons of Rome’s Republic 1. The delegates of the Constitutional Convention wanted to create a republic, a government in which citizens rule themselves through elected representatives. a) Few republics lasted very long. 2. Americans greatly admired the Roman Republic. 3. Independence and public service were virtues that the founding fathers saw in the citizens of Rome. a) Roman citizens were willing to serve not for money, but they were devoted to their republic.

4.3 Ideas That Influenced the Constitution 4. The Founding Fathers saw the collapse of Rome as a warning to the United States. a) Rome eventually became a dictatorship, a government in which one person or a small group rules. B. Britain’s Traditions of Freedom 1. Greece and Rome were not the only examples of democratic republic government. a) Leaders of the Revolution valued British traditions of freedom. 2. King John of England signed the Magna Carta in 1215. a) The Magna Carta stated that English monarchs had to obey the law.

4.3 Ideas That Influenced the Constitution b) The monarch would have to consult Parliament in order to raise taxes. 3. The Magna Carta stated that English nobles had certain rights. a) These rights were later expanded to other people. b) private property c) Trial by jury C. The American Experience 1. Representative government started in the colonies in VA with the House of Burgesses. a) Eventually all the colonies in America developed their own representative government.

4.3 Ideas That Influenced the Constitution 2. The Founding Fathers bitterly remembered their grievances against the English king. a) In writing the Constitution they sought to avoid such abuses. 3. The Declaration accused the king of placing military power above civilian authority. a) The Constitution made the President the “Commander in Chief of the Army and the Navy”. 4. The Declaration protested that the king had made judges dependent on his will alone. a) The Constitution set up a court system independent of the President and legislature.

4.3 Ideas That Influenced the Constitution 5. Much of what went into the new Constitution came from prior governments. D. Teachings of the Enlightenment 1. The Constitution came from ideas of the European Enlightenment. a) The use of reason. 2. John Locke, an English writer, proposed two ideas. a) Life, liberty, and property. b) Government should be an agreement between the ruler and the people. 3. The French Enlightenment thinker Baron de Montesquieu influenced American ideas of how a government should be constructed.

4.3 Ideas That Influenced the Constitution a) In Montesquieu’s The Spirit of the Laws, stressed the importance of the rule of law. b) The powers of the government should be defined and divided up between a legislative, executive, and judicial branch. c) The dividing up of powers between branches of government is known as the separation of powers.