The founders of American government took on a revolutionary task. They endeavored, for the first time in the history of the world, to form a government free from oppressive monarchies and unfair ruling. They undertook to form a government that was incapable of allowing one man to gain dangerous amounts of power. These founders, as the Preamble to the Constitution states, aimed to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to themselves and their posterity. They formed a nation where all men were created equal, and were entitled to equal opportunities regardless of race, religion or rank. They bestowed upon every citizen of the United States certain unalienable rights; among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Since theirs was a task that had never before been attempted, the founding fathers drew from the great philosophers of government to assist them in making a nation that was free. They had to tread carefully however to ensure that this new government would not collapse in chaos that could all too easily be induced by too much freedom. They had to establish certain bonds to make this nation free. Specific philosophers that they took wisdom from were Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean Jacque Rousseau, and Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu. Each of these men and his work contributed monumentally to the construction of the Constitution. .
Hobbes was an enlightenment thinker that affected how people viewed the individual's role in society. During the 1640's, Hobbes witnessed the upheavals of a civil war in England. Hobbes became convinced that if people were left alone they would constantly fight among themselves. In 1651, he published his ideas in "Leviathan." In this work, he described a state of nature in which people had no laws or government.
