Montesquieu (Kourtney Clements)

My name is Baron de Montesquieu. I was born on the 19th of January in 1689 at La Brede, near Bordeaux. My family was very wealthy and noble. I went to school at the Oratorian College de Juilly. After that, I got my degree in law at the University of Bordeaux in the year 1708. After that, I continued my legal studies in Paris. I inherited my father's land in La Brede when he died five years later, and married Jeanne de Lartigue two years after that in 1715. In 1716, my uncle died and I took his position as the President a Mortier in the Parlement of Bordeaux, which was mainly a judicial and administrative body at the time. For eleven years, I was the president of the criminal division of the Parlement, called the Tournelle. I was also involved in the Academy of Bordeaux, where I discovered new scientific developments. My first famous writing piece was the Persian Letters. This was still while I was involved with Parlement. However, I resigned from that position in the year of 1725. I was elected to be in the Academie Francaise in 1728, but I left to travel around the world shortly after this. When I visited England, I was very fascinated with their political system. Although my eyesight was failing, I began to write my masterpiece called The Spirit of the Laws in 1731. It was very controversial for some people, but it was extremely successful overall. It was an explanation of human laws and social institutions. He talked about how variations in laws and social systems can be adapted to much more easily than people think. This work also discussed my belief in the separation of powers. I strongly stand by the idea of the three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial. My belief in liberty is supported by the fact that they can be best protected by dividing the many functions and powers (three branches). This would create fairness in a nation because each branch would be able to check and balance the other so that none of the branches become too powerful. My idea of the three branches promoted a new idea of government for European nations. In fact, this form of government became the central political system in the United States. My ideas are very beneficial to many people and provided a good balance with the thought of separation of powers.