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Daniel Stanaj

Steven Berg

History 151

11/05/2018

The All-in-Wonder Revolutionary

Modern nations encompassing Greco-Roman political ideals, that are now ubiquitous in

the Western world, had many origin points, indeed, any attempts to try to trace exactly to who or

what were the single greatest influence for the re-emergence of representative democracies will

truly come up with a colossal amount of answers; however a reasonably good start would be with

the life and contribution of John Locke. John Locke’s importance is without a doubt a significant

turning point in shaping history specifically with challenging the old order and helping pave the

way for modern socio-political ideologies that influenced the world over.

John Locke was born on August 29, 1632 1​​ , during his time he was a doctor, political

theorist and a philosopher 2​​ . One of John Locke’s greatest contributions is his literary

masterpiece ​Two Treatises of Government​. The first treaty in his book is a rebuttal of absolute

power, bestowed via divine right 3​​ , and his second treaty concerns with natural rights of man

specifically concerning the idea of property rights 3​​ . At the time his book was controversial

because the monarch of a nation was not to be questioned but to be obeyed as one would with

God 4​​ . It wasn’t so much as seen as an act of civil disobedience or rebellion, per se, but what was

deeply ingrained in the common civilian population, was the rebellion against your monarch was

going
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against God’s master plan and if you are rebelling against your monarch the consequences of

your actions would most certainly carry over into the afterlife. Locke’s second treaty laid down

the foundation to what would be Locke’s theory of our natural rights 4​​ being that, a government

cannot take away what is a natural state, lest they be defying nature which would not,

nevertheless, negate the predisposition of man regardless if these rights usurped under a

tyrannical government or not. It is a just government cannot take away one’s “Life, Liberty, and

Property Rights” 4​​ as was common in the days prior to a modern legal system of habeas corpus.

John Locke’s theories caused a ripple effect throughout generations. No longer would

man be born into glory but they would have to earn it and because of that each man started off as

equals, and thus allowing us to have many more rights as a people than we ever could have under

the previous governments of man. Without John Locke we in America would have not been able

to enjoy the freedoms that we currently have today. Overall millions of men and women in the

world have been affected by John Locke’s literature and because what he did, John Locke defied

the current world order at that time.

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Notes

1. See ​Biography.com​ introductory paragraph for John Locke’s early life

2. For Locke’s medical education and contributions refer to ​Archives in Disease and Childhood.

3. For Locke’s opinions for divine right refer to ​Two Treatises of Government​, in book 1, chapter

1, paragraph 8 and for Locke’s opinions on property rights refer to book 2, chapter 5, and

paragraph 25.

4. For the political ramifications for his direct challenge to divine right refer to the ​Internet

Encyclopedia of Philosophy​, chapter a. titled Oxford and how Lock defined man’s natural rights

refer to chapter 3. For the implications of enforcing man's natural rights refer to the last sentence

of paragraph C. Just War.

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Works Cited

“John Locke.” Edited by Biography.com Editors, ​Biography.com,​ A&E Networks Television, 25

Aug. 2015, ​www.biography.com/people/john-locke-9384544​.

Locke, John. ​Two Treatises of Government.​ Legal Classics Library, 1994.

Moseley, Alexander. “John Locke: Political Philosophy.” ​Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy​,

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ​www.iep.utm.edu/locke-po/​.

Williams, A N. “Physician, Philosopher, and Paediatrician: John Locke’s Practice of Child

Health Care.” ​Archives in Disease in Childhood, J​ an. 2006. pp. 85-89.​ National

Center for Biotechnology Information, ​National Institute of Health,

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2083071/#ref1​.