Final answer:
True. John Locke argued that people form governments through a social contract to protect their natural rights, including life, liberty, and property, and he was optimistic about human nature.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement posed by the student is true. English philosopher John Locke believed that in a state of nature, individuals are free and equal and have the natural rights of life, liberty, and property. Locke theorized that people enter into a social contract to form a government with the primary purpose of protecting these natural rights. If a government fails to protect these rights, citizens have the right to overthrow it. This concept had a significant influence on the Enlightenment period and the drafting of the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson.