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Baron de Montesquieu
Charles Louis de Secondat was a French lawyer and a political philosopher who lived during the Enlightenment. He is best known as the Baron de Montesquieu and is famous for his political theory of separation of political powers.

Early Life
Charles Louis de Secondat was born in Bordeaux, France in 1689. Despite being born into a wealthy family, he was raised by a poor family in his childhood. He went to college to study science and history and became a lawyer in local government. His father died in 1713, and after that he was placed in the care of his uncle, Baron de Montesquieu. Three years later in 1716, de Montesquieu died, giving his fortune, place in Bordeaux Parliament, and titles to Charles. He later studied the laws and customs and governments of Europe's countries as a member of the Bordeaux and French Academics of Science.

Major Philosophies
de Montesquieu's biggest most notable idea was that the best government was divided into branches. He believed that there were three types of government. There is a monarchy, government rules by a king or queen, a republic, a government run by elected leaders, and lastly despotism, government run by powerful dictators. He said that the best form of government was one that was run by the people, so basically a republic. He said that for this type of government to work, there had to be a good balance of power. He claimed that a government when there is "power against power", government will not become despot.

Despite his revolutionary views on politics, he had more not as desirable opinions on topics like slavery and equal rights. He argued that women were weaker than men and their purpose in life was to follow their husbands commands. He did however want women to take part in politics, claiming that their weakness can be beneficial to a government. "It is against reason and against nature for women to be mistresses in the house... but not for them to govern an empire. In the first case, their weak state does not permit them to be preeminent; in the second, their very weakness gives them more gentleness and moderation, which, rather than the harsh and ferocious virtues, can make for a good environment."

Major Works
Most of the philosophies that Montesquieu had discussed were in books and satire. In 1721, he published a comical satire called Lettres persanes (The Persian Letters). It was a fictitious story between two Persian travelers discussing French government. The work pokes fun at French monarchy at the time, and discusses very serious topics in an approachable comedic fashion.

The Spirit of The Laws was a treatise that reflected Charles more notorious political belief that government should be divided into branches. As discussed before, He believed that by setting power against power the people could keep the government from becoming corrupt.

Analysis of Influence
Montesquieu is a crucial contribution to what modern day government is in many countries across the world. His views on an ideal government shaped so many prosperous countries, including the United States. With out Montesquieu, the US would not have its three branches, Judicial, Legislative, and Executive. Montesquieu's literature has shaped the political world in ways that no other political philosopher has ever done before.