【正文】 udy these laws scientifically with the hope that knowledge of the laws of government would reduce the problems of society and improve human life. In the Spirit of Law, Montesquieu described three types of government: a monarchy (ruled by a king or queen), a republic (ruled by an elected leader), and despotism (ruled by a dictator). Montesquieu believed that a government that was elected by the people was the best form of government. He did, however, believed that the success of a democracy – a government in which the people have the power—depended upon maintaining the right balance of power. Montesquieu argued that the best government would be one in which power was balanced among three groups of officials. He called the idea of dividing government power into three branches the “separation of powers”. He thought it most important to create separate branches of government with equal but different powers. That way, the government would avoid placing too much power with one individual or group of individuals. According to Montesquieu, each branch of government could limit the power of the other two branches. Therefore, no branch of the government could threaten the freedom of the people. His ideas about separation of powers became the basis for the United States Constitution. 2 The Enlightenment in America The Founding Fathers and the American RevolutionIn 1756, when the Enlightenment was passionately advancing its course in the European continent, England and France began to fight the Seven Years’ War in its colony, known in America as the French and Indian War. The English government invested soldiers and money in North America and won a great empire. Britain’s victory led directly to a conflict with its American colonies. The King of England George Ⅲ tried to tighten his control. He wanted the colonies to pay for the war through higher taxes. Later the British passed several laws which angered the colonist. Finally in 1765 the Stamp Act was passed and the colonists began to speak out against the new taxes. But the colonial Americans insisted that they could be taxed only by their own colonial assemblies. “No taxation without representation” was their rallying cry. The Society and Culture of Major Englishspeaking Countries: An Introduction, , P12At the same time, the reforming rationalism of Enlightenment spread over Europe and reached the New World. The most distinguished leaders of the American Revolution—Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine—were powerfully influenced by English and French Enlightenment thought. Jefferson and Franklin both spent time in France and brought home with them Locke’s theories concerning natural rights. In January of 1776, an Englishman named Thomas Paine published a small book called Common Sense, which soon became a bestseller. The book stated that America must be free to make its own way. It was the efforts of those forerunners of the Enlightenment in America that made Americans believed that America should be a free and independent nation. On April 19, 1775, the first shot was fired when 700 British soldiers went to capture a colonial arms depot in a small town of Concord near Boston. Thus the American War of Independence began. Declaration of IndependenceOne year after the proclamation of war, on July 2, 1776, the united colonies finally resolved that they were, and of right ought to be free and independent states. Thomas Jefferson, because of his skill with pen, won the job to draft a declaration of independence. On July 4, 1776, The Declaration of Independence passed through the Congress. It showed England and other countries that Americans were determined to bee a free nation. It solemnly declared: We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal。 the relationship between humans was peaceful and kind, quite other than the disordered state as described by Hobbes。 or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress or grievances. —the 1st AmendmentIn 1620, 35 Puritans and 67 nonPuritans took the ship Mayflower and left for North America to escape religious prosecution and seek freedo