Baron+de+Montesquieu


 * Baron de Montesquieu**: A French social commentator and political thinker who lived during the Age of Enlightenment. He was born in Bordeaux, France in 1689. Montesquieu played a big part in politics even serving in parliment in his hometown of Bordeaux. Managing the criminal section, Montesquieu overheard legal preceedings, managed prisons, and even administered harsh penalties such as torture. Montesquieu also had a love for writing and even published The Persian Letters, a succesful novel in which made him an instant literary celebrity.



The theory of the separation of powers when drafting the Constitution, Montesquieu argued that the best way to secure liberty and prevent a government from becoming corrupted was to divide the powers of government among different actors who would check each other. Hence, checks and balances was created. When making the constitution, the founding fathers created three branches: executive, legislative, and judiciary. This was the system to set up the division of powers.

Also, Montesquieu believed that there should be a spectrum of punishments depending on the crime that was committed. In our government we have that sort of justice system. A man who is on trial for stealing would not get a punishment as if he were a murderer. It is also sort of known as no cruel and unusual punishments. **Relevant Quotes** "There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of law and in the name of justice"

"The deterioration of every government begins with the decay of the principles on which it was founded"

-Baron de Montesquieu

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category. "Montesquieu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montesquieu
 * Citations**

"Charles de Montesquieu Quotes - BrainyQuote." //Famous Quotes at BrainyQuote//. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Sept. 2011. <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/c/charles_de_montesquieu.html