Most Influential Documents That Affected The Birth Of The United States

Ever wondered how the ideas and laws came about during the birth of the United States? A majority of the laws that were put into place during the early years of the United States were influenced by other foreign documents. The most important of these initial laws were the ones that protect the country’s citizen’s rights. Without the protection from those laws, life in the United States and many other countries would be drastically different today. The three most influential documents that affected the end product of the United States’ laws and more importantly the Constitution are these. Two Treatises of Government, the English Bill of Rights, and The Spirit of Laws. All of these documents played a unique part in creating an enjoyable life
John Locke then wrote a revolutionary document titled Two Treatises of Government. This piece of literature introduced the idea that every person had the same right to liberty, life, and property. (Locke) In Locke’s paper he writes, “But though men, when they enter into society give up the equality, liberty, and executive power they had in the state of Nature into the hands of society . . . the power of the society or legislative constituted by them can never be supposed to extend farther than the common good.” This concept of natural human rights was then seen later on in the Constitution. In the 9th amendment it is stated, “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” This statement is basically protecting each citizen’s natural
Equality was one of the most evident problems in the early stages of the United States and continues to be. In The Spirit of Laws by Baron de Montesquieu, he brings up the importance of equality among men. In his writing he says, “The principle of democracy is corrupted not only when the spirit of equality is extinct.” He then followed up that statement with, “In the state of nature, indeed, all men are born equal, but they cannot continue in this equality. Society makes them lose it, and they recover it only by the protection of the laws.” Equality is extremely crucial to how a country or any type of organization runs. The writers of the Constitution realized this and decided to put it in the final draft of the document. Equality is plainly seen in the 15th amendment, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Later in the Bill of Rights equality is seen in the 19th amendment as well, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate