[Borges]

I would disagree in saying that the French Enlightenment (Volatire, Diderot...) was the birthplace of Secularism not Darwin. And they did have a primary influence on the writing of the Constitution.

[Ed Current]

The source most often cited by the founding fathers in their political writings(1760-1805) was the Bible, which accounted for 34% of all citations. Deuteronomy was the most frequently cited book of the Bible."^{Liberty Fund, Inc. - Check-In}

[Just mythoughts]

"I would disagree in saying that the French Enlightenment (Volatire, Diderot...) was the birthplace of Secularism not Darwin. And they did have a primary influence on the writing of the Constitution."

I would have to disagree with you about the timing of 'Secularism's' beginning with the French, although plenty can be laid at their doorstep, Secularism got its first planting in the Garden of Eden. The serpent (devil)whispered sweet seductions into Eve's ear telling her that, 'God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.' That planting is with us to this day.

[Ed Current]

The most celebrated American historian, George Bancroft, called Calvin "the father of America," and added: "He who will not honor the memory and respect the influence of Calvin knows but little of the origin of American liberty." To John Calvin and the Genevan theologians, President John Adams credited a great deal of the impetus for religious liberty (Adams, WORKS, VI:313). This document includes a justification for rebellion to tyrants by subordinate government officials; this particular justification was at the root of the Dutch, English, and American Revolutions.

Authors Most Frequently Cited by the Founders

Authors Most Frequently Cited By the Founders of the United States

The following chart enumerates European and Biblical contributions to the founders' political thought. These are the people and sources that the founders quoted most often. The political literature included in this study was literature written by the founders of the United States between 1760 and 1805 (approximately one third of the significant secular literature and about ten percent of the significant sermons).

---

Source: Donald S. Lutz, "The Relative Importance of European Writers on Late Eighteenth Century American Political Thought," American Political Science Review 189 (1984), 189-97.

---

	Frequency of Citation
Rank	Author	Percentage
1	St. Paul (Biblical)	9.00%
2	Montesquieu (Enlightenment)	8.30%
3	Sir William Blackstone (Common Law)	7.90%
4	John Locke (Whig)	2.90%
5	David Hume (Enlightenment)	2.70%
6	Plutarch (Classical)	1.50%
7	Cesar Beccaria (Enlightenment)	1.50%
8	Trenchard & Gordon (Whig)	1.40%
9	De Lolme (Enlightenment)	1.40%
10	Baron Pufendorf (17th Century Protestant Political Theorist)	1.30%
11	Sir Edward Coke (Puritan/Common Law)	1.30%
12	Cicero (Classical)	1.20%
13	Thomas Hobbes (17th Century Political Theorist)	1.00%
14	Robertson (Enlightenment)	0.90%
15	Hugo Grotius (17th Century Protestant Political Theorist)	0.90%
16	Rousseau (Enlightenment)	0.90%
17	Bolingbroke (Whig)	0.90%
18	Francis Bacon (Puritan)	0.80%
19	Price (Whig)	0.80%
20	Shakespeare	0.80%
21	Livy (Classical)	0.80%
22	Alexander Pope (Enlight.)	0.70%
23	John Milton (Puritan)	0.70%
24	Tacitus (Classical)	0.60%
25	Coxe (Whig)	0.60%
26	Plato (Classical)	0.50%
27	Abbe Raynal (Enlightenment)	0.50%
28	Mably (Enlightenment)	0.50%
29	Machiavelli	0.50%
30	Vattel (Enlightenment)	0.50%
31	Petyt	0.50%
32	Voltaire (Enlightenment)	0.50%
33	Robinson	0.50%
34	Algernon Sydney (Whig)	0.50%
35	Somers (Whig)	0.50%
36	Harrington (Whig)	0.50%
37	Rapin (Whig)	0.50%

 

 

[xkaydet65]

I would disagree. I feel that it was the English Enlightenment, Locke, et.al, who most influenced the Founders. The extremisms of Voltaire, Rousseau, and more dangerously St. Juste, are not found in the balanced work that is the Constitution. Also there is genuine effort to protect the minority from the evils of the untrammeled majority. Something the French Revolution lacked and Europe lacks even today.

[JFK_Lib]

"I would disagree in saying that the French Enlightenment (Volatire, Diderot...) was the birthplace of Secularism not Darwin. And they did have a primary influence on the writing of the Constitution."

The French Enlightment may have had some influence but not nearly so much as Locke and co from England.

The French Revolution with its massacres and drowning priests in sunk barges by the thousands had more obvious influence from the Voltaire crew.

[RBroadfoot]

I'd agree with you ... The Enlightenment dismissed the relevance of God. Darwin just created a "rational" origin for the existence of life on this planet that made it all seem scientific.