Abstract:
This paper examines a question that has been not often been discussed by those who study the process of the founding of the United States during the last decades of the 18th century. The investigation involves the influence of Spinoza on the political debates of this period. Jonathan Israel's distinction between the radical and the moderate Enlightenment will guide the argument presented here, because Israel indicates that Spinoza was an important reference for the radical thinkers. The conflict between adherents to the radical and the moderate Enlightenment was present before and after the United States' independence.
Keywords:
Spinoza; Enlightenment; United States Constitution