Question

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John Locke was born in England in 1632. His thinking about government and people's rights had a major impact on the Enlightenment.

Whereas Thomas Hobbes had argued that kings should have absolute power, Locke favored constitutional monarchy. In this type of government, a basic set of laws limits the ruler's power.

Locke's ideas reflected a tradition of limitations on the English monarchy dating back to 1215, when English nobles forced King John to sign Magna Carta, or the “Great Charter.” Magna Carta established the idea that even monarchs had to obey English laws and respect certain individual rights.

Over time, Parliament became the main check on the monarch's power. During the civil war of the 1640s, Locke's father fought on the side of Parliament. The young Locke was greatly influenced by his father's beliefs.

In the 1680s, another crisis developed. The new king, James II, was Catholic. James's enemies in Protestant England feared that he wanted to put Catholics in power and forced him to flee the country in 1688.

In 1689, Parliament gave the crown to James's Protestant daughter Mary and her husband, William. Parliament also passed a bill of rights, which strengthened the power of Parliament as the representative of the people. For example, the English Bill of Rights forbade the monarch from keeping a standing army in peacetime or levying taxes without Parliament's consent. It also listed individual rights, including protection in court cases from excessive fines and “cruel and unusual punishment.”

Locke approved of these changes in England. In 1690, he published Two Treatises of Government, in which he offered a theory of government that justified Parliament's actions.

Locke denied the divine right of monarchs to rule and argued that the true basis of government was a social contract, or agreement, among free people. Under this agreement, the purpose of government was to protect people's natural rights, including the right to life, liberty, and property. The people are the sole source of power and must agree to give power to the government to rule on their behalf. Therefore, according to Locke's social contract, a government's authority was based on the consent of the governed. If the government failed to respect people's rights, it broke the contract and could be overthrown.

Locke's view of government had a wide influence. In 1776, his ideas would be echoed in the American Declaration of Independence.

Answer 1

Answer: John Locke, an English philosopher who lived during the 17th century, had a significant impact on the Enlightenment and his ideas about government and individual rights are still influential today. He advocated for a constitutional monarchy, where the power of the ruler is limited by a set of basic laws. Locke's thinking was influenced by the historical tradition of limitations on the English monarchy, dating back to the Magna Carta of 1215, which established the idea that even monarchs had to obey English laws and respect individual rights.

Locke's father's beliefs, shaped by his participation in the civil war of the 1640s on the side of Parliament, also influenced Locke's thinking. Another crisis in England arose in the 1680s when King James II, a Catholic, was perceived as a threat by his Protestant opponents who feared he would put Catholics in power. As a result, James II was forced to flee the country and Parliament gave the crown to his Protestant daughter Mary and her husband, William, in 1689. Parliament also passed a bill of rights, which further strengthened its power as the representative of the people and listed individual rights.

Locke approved of these changes and in 1690, he published Two Treatises of Government, in which he proposed his theory of government based on a social contract among free people. According to Locke, the purpose of government was to protect people's natural rights, including life, liberty, and property, and the government's authority was derived from the consent of the governed. If a government failed to respect people's rights, it could be overthrown as it would have broken the social contract.

Locke's ideas had a wide influence, and his concept of government based on the consent of the governed and the protection of individual rights would later be echoed in the American Declaration of Independence in 1776, among other influential documents.