Bolivar was a supporter of Enlightenment, as seen e.g in his views of supporting personal freedom and democracy. In fact his mentor taught him about Enlightenment and suggested many works of authors relevant to Enlightenment to Simon Bolivar.
Bolívar is a supporter of Enlightenment ideas because he believes in the concept of equal rights. He personally took steps to free the enslaved persons his family owned, and to end slavery in Gran Colombia. In government, he supported the idea of separation of powers as expressed by Montesquieu. However, he also favored a strong executive branch and authoritarian leadership to ensure political stability for the nation. He also opposed the limited government supported by many Enlightenment thinkers. These ideas show that he was skeptical that American-style democracy could work.
The Puritan values that affected American society in both positive and negative ways continue to influence our nation today. The American concept of limited government stems from the Puritan community. Puritans believed that no single person or group of people should be trusted to run the government <span>the puritans create the form of democracy used by the American government today</span>
