Baron de Montesquieu

Well, in History class...I just landed myself with another project. No one wants to talk about History, unless it somehow relates to wars and deaths that affected thousands of people all over the country or world. There could also be some historical characters in countries such as King Henry VIII, famous for having a total of six wives, landed him with only one son, who died at a young age, and two daughters, the future Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I.  So I for one, might as well as talk about this historical figure I will be “impersonating” as for a debate.

My historical figure is Baron de Montesquieu. Charles Louis de Secondat (Baron de Montesquieu) was born in Bordeaux, France, in 1689 to a wealthy family. He later went to college and studied science and history, eventually becoming a lawyer in the local government. De Secondat's father died in 1713 and he was placed under the care of his uncle, Baron de Montesquieu. The Baron died in 1716 and left de Secondat his fortune and his title of Baron de Montesquieu. He gained fame in 1721 with his Persian Letters, which criticized the lifestyle and liberties of the wealthy French as well as the church. However, Montesquieu's book On the Spirit of Laws, published in 1748, was his most famous work. It outlined his ideas on how government would best work. 


      Montesquieu believed that all things were made up of rules or laws that never changed. He set out to study these laws scientifically with the hope that knowledge of the laws of government would reduce the problems of society and improve human life. According to Montesquieu, there were three types of government: a monarchy (ruled by a king or queen), an aristocracy (ruled by the noble or wealthy class), and a republicanism (ruled by elected leaders). Montesquieu believed in democracy, which is now used today in the US government.