An analysis of the influence of Locke, Montesquieu and Rousseau in the American Federalist thought

The article aims to present a comprehensive review about the influence of Montesquieu, Locke and Rousseau’s thought regarding representation, division of powers, and idea of republicanism on the Federalist Articles. The discussion of such concepts on Locke`s Two Treatises of Governments (1689), Montesquieu’s The Spirit of Laws (1748), and Rousseau’s The Social Contract and Discourses (1762) is compared to the ideas presented by the Federalists on their 85 Articles to assess how the latter conception of republic, representation and division of powers is influenced by the former. Furthermore, the article presents the debate between Anti-Federalists and Federalists to elucidate how the ideas of those three modern political theorists formed the base for both sides’ arguments.