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 The Founding Fathers were heavily influenced by the philosophers (a person who studies ideas about knowledge, truth, the nature and meaning of life, etc.; a person who seeks wisdom or enlightenment) of the Enlightenment

Philosophy/Theory: Believed in a limited government ( Government’s authority should come only from the consent of the governed) Remembered For… His work Leviathan (1651) State/government has the power in exchange for protecting and looking out for its people—social contract theory Stated that without government life would be “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.” Influenced the Declaration of Independence, VA Constitution, and the U.S. Constitution sonalbest_timeline/image/thomas_hobbes.jpg

Philosophy/Theory: Believed in a limited government Supported a state of nature (natural law) Followed the Social Contract Theory Remembered For… His work the Second Treatise of Government Influenced Thomas Jefferson Declared that every person has “certain unalienable rights: life, liberty, and property.” Influenced the Declaration of Independence, VA Constitution, and U.S. Constitution a/commons/d/d1/JohnLocke.png

Philosophy/Theory: Believed in a mixed government theory (i.e., multiple branches) Remembered For… His work Spirit of the Laws Advocated a system of separation of powers in the branches of government Executive Judicial Legislative Influenced the VA Constitution and the U.S. Constitution

Philosophy/Theory: Supported the Social Contract Theory Remembered For… His work The Social Contract Believed that “all men are created equal” Influenced the writing of the Declaration of Independence

 Mayflower Compact  Charters of the Virginia Company of London

Illustration of Direct Democracy  An agreement signed by the men who founded Plymouth Colony; gave rise to the first self- government in America  It was a direct democracy designed to create a covenant community and later served as a foundation for the U.S. Constitution.

Three charters (a written grant of authority from the king) Issued by King James I VA Company of London was a joint-stock company that granted money and was charged to help with the costs of colonization for the Jamestown settlement The charters gave direct control over the colonies to the company It also extended the rights of Englishmen to the colonists Influenced the Declaration of Independence

 George Mason  Virginia Declaration of Rights  Thomas Jefferson  Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom  James Madison  Helped write the Federalist Papers

States that all Virginians should have certain rights, including freedom of religion and the press Influenced the basis for the Bill of Rights of the Constitution of the United States of America

States that all people should be free to worship as they please First document to protect religious freedom by law Basis for the First Amendment (i.e., the Bill of Rights) to the Constitution of the United States of America which guarantees religious freedom jefferson/

Kept detailed notes during the Constitutional Convention Engineered compromises on the most difficult issues facing the delegates Remembered For… Authoring: The “Virginia Plan,” which proposed a federal government of three separate branches (legislative, executive, judicial) and became the foundation for the structure of the new government Federalist Papers Known as the “Father of the Constitution” Influenced the U.S. Constitution & the Bill of Rights joined/2009/4/28/james-madison-the-rights-of-the- minority-in-a-republic.html