The French Revolution is one of the most significant events in history. It was more far reaching than the American and the English revolutions, and it had a bigger impact on 19th century Europe (http://members.aol.com/agentmess/frenchrev/summary.html). By the end of the revolution the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Declaration of the Rights of Woman, had been written. These two documents had been fashioned from the beliefs of two political philosophers, Montesquieu and Rousseau. Frances political history leads to the creation of a revolutionary environment, and in return started the revolution.
             The framers of the declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and the Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female citizen drew their thoughts from the political philosophers, Charles Louis de Secondant, Baron de Montesquieu, and Jean Jacques Rousseau. These were the 2 most influential philosophers in the 18th century.
             Montesquieu was a lawyer, a noble of the robe, and a member of a provincial parlement (Kagan, 603). Montesquieu favored the separation of powers in government. He felt that liberty is only found in moderate governments (Kagan, 604). Montesquieu broke government into 3 different kinds of power: the legislative, the executive in respect to things dependent on the law of nations; and the executive in regard to matters that depend on the civil law. He said" when the legislative and the executive powers are united in the same person, or in the same body of magistrates, there can be no liberty, because apprehensions may arise, lest the same monarchy or senate should enact tyrannical laws, to execute them in a tyrannical matter (Kagan, 604). He felt that the executive power resided in the king, the legislative power in the Parliament, and judicial power in the courts (Kagan, 605). Montesquieu felt that any 2 of the powers could check and balance the 3rd power (Kagan, 605). Montesquieu's thoughts had an everlasting e...