Existing comment:
1694
Two Treatises of Government
London, 1694, second edition
In 1694, John Locke published this landmark of political theory. He asserted that natural rights -- including life, liberty and the right to hold property -- must be protected by government. Locke rejected the divine right of kings. Revolution, he said, was sometimes needed to bring down tyrants. Locke's philosophy was central to the underpinnings of both the American and French revolutions. His work profoundly influenced Thomas Jefferson, who incorporated Locke's ideas into the Declaration of Independence. |