Locke on Government

Nicole Niemiec
Work of Choice - Outside Reading #4 - Government
May 5, 2009
The inspiration for John Locke’s Two Treatises of Government began with the Enlightenment–the Age of Reason, a time when widespread beliefs in natural law and universal order served to promote scientific exploration and a scientific approach to political and social issues. Thinking men began to openly express their thoughts in writing and read the thoughts of others, the brilliant minds of the Enlightenment included men such as: Francis Bacon, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and David Hume. One, foremost among their ranks, was John Locke.
John Locke was born on August 28, 1634 in Somerset England and began his formal education in 1647 at the prestigious Westminster School for Boys. He went on to study literature, physical science, medicine, politics and natural philosophy at Christ Church in Oxford. It was science that first appealed to Locke, and it wasn’t until years later, through a close friendship with the Earl of Shaftesbury, that he became more familiar with the government system and his political interest deepened. In 1672, Shaftesbury became Lord Chancellor and Locke was appointed to be secretary of a powerful Board. It was at that time that his ideas of a better government began to develop.
Locke’s views on government are expressed in Two Treatises of Government , which he published anonymously in 1690. His writings and his Two Treatises, in particular, had a great influence on the foundation of American democracy and on the Constitution of the United States. Locke is highly regarded for his defense of the proposition that government rests on the consent of the people and rebellion is permissible when government subverts the ends–the protection of life, liberty, and property–for which it is established.
In the First Treatise Locke systematically attacks Sir. Robert Filmer’s Patriarcha, a work published in 1680. Patriarcha was written in defense of divine...