John Locke was one of the most influential philosophers whose ideas have helped shape our history. In Locke’s Two Treatises of Government, he defended that “men are by nature free and equal against claims that God had made all people naturally subject to a monarch” (Tuckness, 2016). The Two Treatises of Government was written in explanation to the Glorious Revolution. John Locke’s first treatise supports the divine right of kings and the ability to govern themselves (“Two Treatises of Government”). Building on that idea, the second treatise defines political power as “the right to make laws for the protection and regulation of property” (“Two Treatises of Government”).
Locke believed that people have rights, such as “the right to life, liberty, and property” (Tuckness, 2016). He also believed that people have a separate basis that does not coincide with the laws in a society. His theories and ideas have influenced the restrictions and obligations the government must follow in order to guarantee citizens their natural rights and freedoms. John Locke was “an inspirer of Enlightenment and the Constitution of the United States” (Rogers, 2017).
