Great Thinkers of the Enlightenment Age

Adam Smith Often called the father of modern economics, Adam Smith was a Scottish economist best known for his book The Wealth of Nations. It was a study of economics, one of the first books of its kind, and is considered by many to be the primary text on the free market system. It was published in 1776—the same year that the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Baron de Montesquieu A Frenchman, Baron de Montesquieu was a political analyst and social commentator whose governmental ideas were crucial to political theory during the Enlightenment. His theories heavily influenced James Madison, a founding father and Framer of the Constitution, and many believe the Baron’s writings influenced the Constitution more than any other. His view of the separation of powers of government is central to the Constitution.

Thomas Hobbes A historian and scientist, Thomas Hobbes was an Englishman who published his Leviathan in 1651. In it, he set forth his political philosophy, part of which is echoed in the Declaration of Independence. Hobbes believed that governments should be limited in power and that people have unalienable rights.

John Locke An English philosopher, physician, and politician, John Locke shared his governmental ideas in his famous Two Treatises of Government. These philosophies, including his concept of the importance of separation of church and state, helped shape the Declaration of Independence and directly influenced Thomas Jefferson, a writer of the Declaration of Independence.

Sir William Blackstone Sir William Blackstone was an English judge who wrote the Commentaries on the Laws of England, a series of four books that had a profound influence on the writers of America’s Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Blackstone, an important Enlightenment figure, believed in protecting the rights of the innocent and in basing judgments on common law – that is, on previous decisions about similar issues.