Tag: Montesquieu

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The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on

A Tale of Two Revolutions: Jefferson, Lafayette, and the Empire of Liberty

When Thomas Jefferson arrived in Paris in 1784, he carried with him the ideals of the American Revolution. Buoyed by the success of a revolution against the British empire, the soon-to-be appointed Minister to France found himself attempting to reconcile Republican principles with the complex political realities of Paris. It marked an intriguing reversal for […]

by Davis Richardson
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The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on

Hamilton, the Humanist: Philosophical Collision in Federalist No. 6

In December 2023, intellectual history lost one of its greatest innovators: J. G. A. Pocock. Professor Pocock, who dedicated his life to reconstructing the relationship between written text and historical context, leaves behind a body of work that has dramatically altered our understanding of Atlantic political thought. Underpinning much of his scholarship is a strong […]

by Vincent Calvagno
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The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on

An Absent Clause: The Exclusion of Madison’s 16th Amendment

A separation of powers is a defining structural feature of the federal government established by the United States Constitution, yet an explicit statement of the concept exists nowhere in the document. If James Madison had had his way there indeed would have been a clause pronouncing the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches to be distinct […]

by Phoenix Dalto
The War Years (1775-1783) Posted on

Edmund Burke and Thomas Jefferson on Montesquieu

Antoine Louis Claude Destutt, comte de Tracy (1754–1836) was a famous French Enlightenment philosopher. Thomas Jefferson admired him, and was so impressed with his writings that he translated one of his works into English and published it. In 1811, Jefferson completed his translation of Destutt de Tracy’s Commentary on Montesquieu, writing in thepreface: Montesquieu’s immortal […]

by Haimo Li