Mary Wollstonecraft (Braden Fleming)

Hello everybody. My name is Mary Wollstonecraft and I was born on April 27, 1759. I strongly believe that women and men must have equal rights, however, it is only because of women's' lack of education that they appear to be below the status of men. As a child, my father abused my family and after my mother died in 1780 I left our home. I could not deal with the abuse from my father any longer. I had many jobs for example, I started a school, and was a governess for a little while, but when Joseph Johnson started the Analytical Review, I began to write. I loved being an author. It allowed me to express my beliefs and within the next four years after the Analytical Review began in 1788, I published many items of my best work including The Vindication of the Rights of Women which I wrote in 1792. Most of my writing involved women's rights because that is what I sought to fix through most of my career. I fell in love with a man named William Godwin and because of my pregnancy, we got married. In 1797, our daughter Mary was born however, I died ten days later. Even though I only lived for thirty-eight years, my work and beliefs will never die. I am proud of my successful life because I made it through tough times with my family, and I expressed what I believed in to make a difference.

Voltaire (Max Moss)

Hello, my name is Francois-Marie Arouet, also known as Voltaire. I was the youngest of five children being born on February 20, 1694 in Paris, France. My mother had come from a wealthy and noble family in the Province of Poitou. I attended college at Louis-le-Grand, where I learned Latin and Greek. Ill have you know that I was a French Enlightenment writer, Philosopher and Historian. I am famous for my clever remarks, my attacks against the catholic church, but mainly i was known for promoting freedom of speech, religion, and freedom of expression. I was a big promoter of separation between church and state. I enjoyed writer a fair amount. I wrote poems, essays, and novels. Throughout my lifetime I had written almost 20,000 letters and more than 2000 books and pamphlets. I was known to speak my opinion and advocate for freedom of speech. I may not have agreed with what you were saying but I agree that you have every right to say it!

John Locke (Eva Lindquist)

      Hello. My name is John Locke. I was born on August 29, 1632, in Wrington, Somerset, England. My parents were Puritans, so I received an excellent education: I went to Westminster School, then studied medicine at Christ Church (University of Oxford). My friend, the Earl of Shaftsbury, made me his secretary of presentations. His influence weighs greatly into my philosophies. 

      Due to my Two Treatises of Government and my revolutionary ideas within, the English government targeted me. I was accused of trying to assassinate King Charles II and his brother in the Rye House Plot. While I was exiled in the Netherlands, I wrote An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. This was published after I came back to England, after the Glorious Revolution of 1688, whereupon I was viewed as a hero. I continued to help the new government until my death on October 28, 1704.

    

      I believe that all men are inherently good and are all born with natural rights, such as those to life, liberty, and property. I think that people form governments to protect their natural rights. However, the government has an obligation to the people, who have a right to overthrow it if it fails in this duty. A good government would have limited power and be accepted by all citizens. 

(Source: biography.com)

Mary Wollstonecraft (Zack Johnson)

Good day.  My name is Mary Wollstonecraft.  I was born on April 27, 1759 in the beautiful city that is London, England.  However, my childhood was not so beautiful.  Our family began with a rather larger fortune.  Nonetheless, my father saw fit to rashly spend enormous sums of money on farm ventures about which he knew very little.  Logically, these ventures failed terribly.  My mother died when I was 21.  Thus, I sought to leave this life of misfortune behind.  My sister, my best friend and I created a school in the quaint little town of Newington Green.  I taught here for many years.  It was these experiences teaching that led to me to form my opinions on women’s rights.  I soon published my first book, titled Thoughts on the Education of Daughters.  Post teaching, I became a governess in Ireland.  I couldn’t stand it and its mind numbingly slow pace.  Thus, I sought to further my career in other directions. I became a journalist, a scholar, and a highly regarded philosopher.  My true passion, however, continue to lie in women’s rights.  I focused most of my time on this topic.  I believe that although women have a duty to be a good mother, we also have the need to have a say in our own affairs as well as in public life.  Our husbands should not rule over us.  The path to these rights is through education.  In order to encompass these opinions and promote them, I wrote numerous other works.  The most famous is A Vindication of the Rights of Woman.  I had one child with Gilbert Imlay, a girl named Fanny.  After having Fanny, he left me and I fell for William Godwin. We married soon after.  We had one child named Mary.  I died ten days after having her.          

Thomas Hobbes (Kyle Riggs)

My name is Thomas Hobbes. I was born on April 5th 1588, in London England. I was born to a poor family, but my wealthy Uncle was able to provide for my education. I studied at the University of Oxford. After finishing my formal education I traveled to other countries in an attempt to learn more about science and governments. I was an English philosopher best know for my ideas about politics and government. In 1640 I left England and went to France for over 10 years. This was a time of civil wars and I was worried about my safety in England. In 1651, I wrote my most famous book, Leviathan. In it i argueed that people were generally bad and selfish, and could not be trusted to govern themselves. I believe in an absolute monarchy, where a kind or queen has full power. I believe that humans, left to themselves will only work to benefit themselves. Governments were created to protect people from their own natural selfishness. Every country needs a strong authority figure for leadership and direction. I passed away on December 4th 1679, living to an impressive 91 years old.

John Locke (Kenny Shanos)

I am John Locke.  I was born on August 29, 1632 in Wrington, England.  I attended school in Westminster in 1647.  Here, I was honored with the name King's Scholar, which was only given to a select few people.  Since my father was in the military, I received an outstanding education for my time.  In 1652, I attended Christ Church at the University of Oxford.  At Oxford, I studied medicine.  Here, I studied metaphysics and classical languages.  I graduated in 1656, but two years later, I came back to Christ Church where I received my Master of Art.  After that, in 1668, I was elected to be part of the Royal Society.  I again graduated from Oxford in 1674 with a bachelor's degree in medicine.  I then met Earl of Shaftsbury.  He was sick and wanted my help to cure him.  I did so, and he liked me so much that he asked me to come and live in London with him to be his personal physician.  I wrote most of my essay, Two Treaties of Government, during my time with Shaftsbury because he was very influential to me.  I wrote about how everyone is born with equal natural rights and how the government should protect those rights.  After this was published in 1689, I was forced to leave England because I was falsely accused of attempting to murder King Charles II and his brother.  While in Holland, I wrote An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which examined the nature of human knowledge.  It also talks about how people are born free and have unalienable natural rights.  Then, I moved to back to England, to Essex, where I spent the rest of my life. I was a key member in the Whig party which talked about government ideas.  Finally, I lived with Sir Francis Masham from 1691 until I died on October 28, 1704.

Rousseau (Kyle Sjoberg)

Hi my name is Jean-Jacques Rousseau. I was born on June 18, 1712 in Geneva. I believe i was one of the most important philosophers during the French Revolution.My father was a clock maker and my mom died a few days after i was born. I moved to Paris in 1742 and met Denis Diderot and became part of his Encyclopedia. My first major piece of work got got a prize from the academy of Dijon in 1750.I compared bad men from good men who live through the opinion of other. I believe all men were born good, but society holds them back. I wrote many novels that talked about society and man together. I later died on July 2, 1778 in Ermenonville. I have left a great influence on the people today that act out and continue my work.

Montesquieu (Sarah Schumacher)

Bonjour! Mon nom est Charles- Louis de Secondat. However, most refer to me as the great philosphe Montesquieu. I was born in France on January 18, 1689. I was born to a wealthy and prosperous family. I was educated at the University of Bordeaux in 1708, here I received my degree in law. I also studied at the Oratorian Collège de Juilly. After this I journeyed to Paris to continue my profession and studies.  My two major works are The Persian Letters and The Spirit of the Laws. Both of the novels reflect the European idea of despotism. However, both novels will be treated very differently. My main belief structure is that I believe in democracy, and a three branch system of government that has functioning checks and balances. Some refer to me as a large supporter of the Separation of Powers. This is ultimately the best way to protect liberty. By having these checks and balances in place one branch of government cannot become too powerful. My beliefs are a large part of the structure of the American Government System. They too, have a full functioning three-branch government system. The three branches of government include Judicial, Executive and Legislative. I died on February 10, 1755 in Paris, France. 

Rousseau (Katharine Yan)

My name is Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and I was born on June 28th, 1712 in Geneva, Switzerland. When I was 30 years old, I left for Paris to become a composer. I worked for the French embassy, while composing a few operas. My first philosophical work was entitled A Discourse on the Arts and Sciences, which praised rationalism and discussed how art and science corrupted morality and that civilization was in a downward spiral. Unlike my first work, the Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men, proposed that reason was the cause of all problems and that the people of our society lived based on other people's opinions of them. I then published several influential bestselling books, such as Of the Social Contract, Principles of Political Right and Èmile, or on Education.  I argued that society was what corrupted the innocence of naturally good people. Only freely elected governments should be able to place limited controls on people. I also believed that the good of the community is more important than the interests of one individual. Because my writing caused major scandals, I was banned from France for a while, but returned to Paris in 1770. I published one of the first autobiographies, Confessions, before I died on July 2nd, 1778 in Ermenonville, France. Although I am a philosophe of the Enlightenment, my ideas have impacted other thinkers long after my time.

Voltaire (Ben Acker)

Salutations, my fellow citizens who have at last surpassed the oppression of the French government. My name is François-Marie Arouet, but as many of you know me, I am the most grand of all the philosophes. I am Voltaire. The date of my birth is the 21st of November, 1694. My father was a lawyer who was a minor treasury official, whilst my mother was from a noble family out of the French province of Poitou. As a child, my studies taught me Latin and Greek. Later on, I became fluent in English, Italian, and Spanish. Against my father's wishes and through the influence of the Enlightenment era I lived during, I became a varying author, writing poems, essays, and historical studies. As a writer, I strove to expose the abuses of French nobility and the government towards my fellow peasants. Armed with a pen and my biting wit, I targeted corrupt officials and idle aristocrats to gain equality and justice for the Third Estate. Despite my attempts, I was imprisoned by the French government and the Catholic Church, eventually leading to exile from the country.

Alyssa Kanis: Voltaire

I was born on November 21, 1964 in Paris France to an upper middle class family. I was the youngest out of five children, and at the age of seven our Mother died.This was the time I became close too my free thinking God Father. In 1704 I began too show promise as a writer while I received a classical education at the College Louis- Le- Grand, a secondary school in Paris. I was first exiled to Tulle in 1775. Two years later I returned too Paris only to be arrested and exited too the Bastille for a year. I was then sent to the Bastille again in 1726, before I was finally shipped off to England. In 1773, I fled to Lorraine and in 1759 I wrote the satirical novella Candide. In 1778 I returned too my homeland of Paris where I unfortunately died May 30th of that year. " I die adoring God, loving my friends, not hating my families, and detesting superstition."

Thomas Hobbes (Brooke Anderson)

Hello my name is Thomas Hobbs. I was born on April fifth 1588 in Westport, England. I died at age 91 on December fourth 1679. I was exceptionally smart and by age 14 I attended Magdalen Hall in Oxford. In 1610 I traveled around Europe and met many other philosophers. I was friends with William Cavendish, who was a member of Parliament. This allowed me to sit in on many debates. When a dispute broke out in the 1840 I wrote defended the king. Pieces of my writing was used in Parliament to help defend him. These disputes ending up turning into wars so I fled to France where I lived until 1651. I then became interested in Sciences and Maths which I had never studied much before. I wrote the book The Leviathan which supported my ideals. The beliefs outlined in my book all have to do with absolute power. Absolute power is necessary since humans are born selfish and do not try to help others. This can only be fixed by having one monarch in complete control to keep society from turning on each other. I returned to england in 1615 where I spent my days writing more and translating
The Odyssey and The Iliad. I died from a stroke in 1679 28 years after returning home.

Wollstonecraft (Angelica Mirandou)

Greetings, my name is Mary Wollstonecraft. I was born in London on the 27th day of April in 1759, but sadly my life came to an end on September 10th 1797. My life spent on Earth was not wasted I've accomplished many things in 38 years. What I am most famous for though is my philosophical point of view on the way women act and are treated. I saw most women use men to get what they wanted and I believed that was absurd. I watched these women around me do this constantly and I couldn't help but look at them with rage. Later I learned that it was not the women's fault. Due to the absence of education these women didn't know how to act with logic. With proper education I believed that women and men could be see as equals and receive equal treatment. I spent most of my life pondering issues that women were involved in which was pretty much everything. I also published many of my ideas including Vindication on the Rights of Woman and Maria, or the Wrongs of Woman. During this time though I also got married to William Godwin and we had a daughter together who would soon be the author of Frankenstein. My life was not wasted looking back I am satisfied with what I accomplished.

Thomas Hobbes (Romina Garakani)

My name is Thomas Hobbes. I was born on April 5th, 1588. I lived during the Age of Reason. I died on December 4th, 1679. I received my college education at Oxford University in England. I studied classics there. I traveled to other European countries several times to meet with scientists and to study different forms of government. In 1651, I wrote the Leviathan. In the book, I argued that people were naturally wicked and could not be trusted to govern. I was best known for my political thought. My main concern was the problem of social and political order. During my time outside of England, I became interested in why people allowed themselves to be ruled and what would be the best form of government for England. I believed that humans were selfish creatures who would do anything to better their position. Also, people would act on their evil impulses. People should not be trusted to make decisions on their own. Also, nations, like people, were selfishly motivated. Each country was in a constant battle for power and wealth. Therefore, an absolute monarchy would be the best. Governments were created to protect people from their own selfishness. The best government would be one that had the great power  of a leviathan, or sea monster. A country would need a king to provide direction and leadership. Democracy would allow citizens to vote for government leaders, but would never work. A diverse group of representatives presenting the problems of the common person would prevent a king from being cruel and unfair. I believed that an individual could be heard in government by authorizing a representative to speak on their behalf. I came up with the phrase "voice of the people."

Thomas Hobbes (Elise Warren)

I was born in Malmesbury England on April 5, 1588. My uncle was my father figure and made me go to school at Magdalen Hall. I started tutoring a man named William Cavendish in 1608. We went on the grand tour together and met many other philosophers in Europe. He died in 1638 but my strong relation with his family allowed me to sit on discussion circles. I could see from these discussions the structure and power of government. Somehow, I got involved in the argument between Parliament and The king. I decided to defend the king, which got me kicked out of england after he was executed. I lived in france until 1651, but while I was there I studied a lot of math and law and became very strong in those subjects. I also wrote. One of my most famous pieces is Leviathan, which includes lots of my philosophies. In this book I argued for the social contract. I also argued for a monarch because only that type of government can hold society together. After all, we are all selfish and evil by nature. In 1651 I returned to england but suffered a stroke that ended my life 28 years later. My ideas left a lasting impression on Western Political ideas and other important philosophers.

John Locke (Yash Gokhale)

Good day fellow thinkers, my name is John Locke, but you can call me Locke for short. I was born on the twenty ninth of August, 1632 in the village of Wrington, Somerset, England. My father was a lawyer and a military veteran with many connections. Both my parents were puritans so as you can imagine I was raised a puritan as well. Through hard work, determination, and my fathers connections I was named a Kings Scholar and recieved an outstanding education at the Westminster School in London in 1647. In school I studied logic and metaphysics which started me on the path to become a philosopher of the Enlightenment period. Later in my life I wrote an essay entitled Two Treatises of Government which encompassed most of my beliefs and ideas. In it I wrote of the idea that people are born inherently good with natural rights and form governments to protect these rights. My literary work created much unrest in the English people and after an assassination attempt on King Charles the second and his brother I was forced to leave England in 1683. In my later years I wrote another work of literature called An Essay Concerning Human Understanding in which I tried to understand the nature of human knowledge. On October 28, 1704 I passed away in Essex, United Kingdom. Years after my death, my ideas still live on and influence people today.

Baron de Montesquieu (Will Campbell)

Name: Baron de La Brede et de Montesquieu
DoB: January 18, 1689, La Brede, France
DoD: Fabruary 10, 1755, Paris France
Spouse: Jane de Lartigue
Education: Academie francaise (1728), College of Juilly
Parents: Marie Francoise de Pesnel and Jacques de Secondat
Books: The Spirit of the Laws, Persian Letters,

Bonjour, je m'appelle le Baron de Montesquieu, or simply Montesquieu for short. I am a political thinker and philosophe from the Age of Enlightenment. I believe greatly in the separation of powers within the government. My book, The Spirit of the Laws, greatly emphasized the three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial, checks and balances, and explained how these ideas, if put into effect, would greatly improve the government and protect the liberty of the people of France. 

Rousseau (Olivia Harrington)

Hello my name is Jean-Jacques Rousseau. I am an influential thinker from the enlightenment period, in Europe. I am a Genevan philosopher, composer, and writer of the 18th century. I was born on June 28, 1712. With my mother passing away nine days after my birth, my father took care of me and educated me until I was ten years old. When I was 16 years old, he left the city of Geneva and became under the influence of Francoise-Louise de la Tour, Baronne de Warens. Mme. de Warens was a Roman Catholic convert noblewoman. In April of 1728, she sent me to the town of Turin where he converted to Roman Catholicism. I also trained to be a Catholic priest for some time, but I became Mme. de Waren's household manager. I later moved to Lyon in 1740 to become a tutor. This was my first contact with people of the French Englightenment. After this I traveled to Paris to present a system that I created of musical notation. However, I was rejected by the Academy. During the Enlightenment period, I was the thinker that believed that people were born naturally good. I thought that they were tabula rasa, which means that they had a clean slate. I believe that they had a clean slate, but society corrupted every individual that was born good. Also, I believe that the good of the community placed above individual interests, and people should work for the good of their own community. My life sadly came to an end on July 2, 1778.

Thomas Hobbes (Michael Kowalski)

Greetings and salutations lowly peasents and my fellow thinkers. My name is Thomas Hobbes, name after my father. I was born on April 5 1588 in the small town of Malmsbury, England. Sadly I meet my demise in 1626 from a heart attack, dang organ. But besides the fire and brimstone, today in the wonderous year of 2013, I was reincarnated by the merciful Mrs. Garno. My advisor to this new time era says I should make a Frankenstein joke here, but I do not follow the humor. Anyways onto the potatoes and mutton of the subject, I find all people to be evil demons at they're core. People in nature are cruel, greedy, sinful barbarians. This is why we need a political body, to protect the dogs from each other. The only sensible way to go about this is to have a strong government. This is known to be a fact because the more freedom you have is the more freedom you have to committ evil sinful crimes against the other sinners of community. There is no other solution other than to take away all rights so that we can assure the saftey and order for the rest. My advisor also says that another great thinker once said, "The needs many outwiegh the needs of the one or the few." (Science Officer Spock, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) This is why we need absolute power with one person that can maintain the power. This way the least amount of people, who are corrupt by nature, are exempt from destroying order. I will conclude my short autobiography by say that these right which are in question are without value or worth and is pointless to discuss to argue on a topic so useless. I look forward disputing all of your points because they are truly wrong.

Voltaire (Meran Topalian)

Hello my name is François-Marie Arouet or most commonly known as Voltaire. I was born in Paris on February 20, 1694. I was the youngest of five children, 3 of which have survived, of François Arouet, a lawyer who was a minor treasury official. My mother Marie Marguerite d'Aumart came from a noble family of the province of Poitou. I was educated immensely by the Jesuits at the College Louis-le-Grand, where I learned Latin and Greek. If you know me, you would know that I was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher. I am famous for my wit, my attacks on the established Catholic Church, and my advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and separation of church and state. I was a very versatile writer that produced works in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays, and historical and scientific works. I wrote more than 20,000 letters and more than 2,000 books and pamphlets. I was a very outspoken advocate, despite the risk this placed me under very strict censorship laws of the time!

Wollstonecraft (Ryan Teng)

Greetings, my name is Mary Wollstonecraft. I was born in Britain in the year seventeen hundred fifty-nine, in the day the twenty-seventh of the month April. I hath unfortunately passed away at the date of seventeen ninety-seven, on the tenth of September. My occupation is writing for the better good of women, for the equal education of both boys and girls, as I believe it is unfair for half of the world's population to be left out of the enlightenment age. My greatest known work is A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, a book that argues that women are not inferior to men, they only seem so because of their lack of a proper education. Women deserve equal rights to men, they deserve to be treated as rational beings. Equal rights for all!

Montesquieu (Rachel Latham)

Hello, my name is Charles-Louis de Secondat, or Baron de Montesquieu, but you can just call me Montesquieu. I was born on the 19^th of January in the year 1689 in a town called La Brède, and I died in 1755 due to a terrible fever. I attended a college named Oratorian Collège de Juilly, and later attended the University of Bordeaux in order to obtain my degree in law. In the year of 1716, I was given my title, Baron de Montesquieu, which I inherited from my late uncle. After publishing my novel, the Persian Letters, I experienced quite a bit of literary fame. After residing in Paris for a few years and then traveling around Europe, I decided to return to my hometown of La Brède, and I began to work on The Spirit of the Laws. Also, I strongly believed in protecting liberty; I believe that by separating the powers of government into three branches, these branches being the legislative, judicial, and executive. I contributed many different ideas to the Enlightenment period in Europe, and left a wonderful legacy behind.

Montesquieu (Brian Gemma)

Hello, my name is Charles-Louis de Secondat but you can call me Montesquieu. I was born on January 18, 1689 in France. My father was Jacques de Secondat and he was a soldier and he had a long noble ancestry. My mother, Marie Francoise de Pesnel died when I was very young. I was only seven years old. I wrote many works that were successful. Some of them are Lettres persanes and The Persian Letters. These books had a strong influence on a lot of people. I was also looked at as a champion of liberty.  I traveled a lot. I went to Austria, Hungary, Italy, and many more places. I struggled sometimes at these places because I have very poor eyesight. It affected me from my early life around 1695 and as I got older all the way until 1755. I have always believed in the Separation of Powers.  I always believed that the best way to protect liberty was to divide the various functions and powers of government among three branches, the legislative branch, the executive branch, and the judicial branch. If we follow these guidelines, the world will be a much better place.

Locke (Erik Carlson)

Locke
My name is John Locke. I lived from 1632-1704. In 1690 I wrote the book Two Treaties of Government. I believe strongly in natural lights. I believe that everyone has the same natural rights of life,liberty and the right to property. The government is obligated to protect these rights with the consent of the people. My ideas were some of the key ideas for the American and French Revolution.

Locke (Julian Wu)

Hello, my name is John Locke and I am an English man. I was born on August 29th, 1632 and died on October 28th 1704. My work as an Enlightenment thinker influenced many other people, including other Enlightenment thinkers, such as Rousseau and Voltaire. Well, first let me tell you a little bit about myself. I was born in a small village named Wrington, in a county named Somerset. My parents were Puritans, so I was raised to think like an English Protestant. Thanks to my father, also named John Locke, and his connection to the English government, I received a wonderful education. My mom was named Agnes Locke. She was born in the same village as I was. When I was 15, I enrolled at Westminster School in London, where I earned the honor of being named a "King's Scholar." 5 years later, I acquired the opportunity to attend Christ Church, one of the most prestigious schools in Oxford. Throughout the rest of my life, I met one of the most important people I would ever know. Lord Ashley, or also known as Earl of Shaftsbury. This man influenced my life in many ways. He told me to move to London. My works have all been influenced by him. His idea on rule and government always stayed in my head. My general belief is that everyone deserves the right to liberty, life, and property. Our government was chosen by our people to serve them, so it is the government's responsibility to protect and serve its people. I also think that checks and balances are an important part to prevent tyranny. It allows for a 3-part system in the government where no one will obtain too much power and keep an equal balance. As I have said before, "All mankind... being equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions." Everyone has natural rights, immediately put into action when they are born. I hope people strive to follow these standards, and continue to make life as "right" as possible.

Montesquieu (Chris Wright)

Hello I am Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu or known as Montesquieu. I was born in the 17th century on the 18th of January, 1689 in the Château de la Brède, France. I am most known for advancing the ideas of separation of powers. I believe that to protect liberty is to divide powers of government among the three banches known as the legislative, executive, and judicial. My early life was around a time of significant governmental change, England declared itself a constitutional monarchy and joined with Scottland to become the kingdom of Great Britian. Also Louis XIV dies and Louis the XV took his place. Both of these changes had a great impact on me, you would know if you read my work. One of my most known books was the Spirit of Laws which had a huge inflence on Europe but you could say the Catholic church didn't like it as much. The pre revolution American colonies where also very fond of my work which they quoted almost as much a the Bible. I traveled around Europe in the later part of mylife until I died February 10th 1755 at the age of 66.

First Assignment

Please post your name, bio, time period, & general belief structure.