Question

What were the characteristics of the state constitutions written during the early years of the struggle? How did they reflect the general spirit of the Enlightenment—the belief that freedom was the natural state of humanity?

Answer 1

One of the main characteristics that almost all the constitutions of early states shared was that they established a legislature that was charged with making laws for the state. This reflected the Enlightenment spirit by making sure that laws were created by the citizenship, not by a single ruler.