John Locke: Second Treatise on Civil Government

Impact

Locke's influence on thinkers and political actors in the eighteenth century was varied. Often that influence was indirect, as those who followed him, rather than forming a cohesive group of philosophical disciples, were attracted to different aspects of his views. Some built upon his epistemology, the philosophical line of inquiry that examines what can be known and the process of knowing. Others were attracted to his advocacy of religious toleration, while still others saw his quiet reasoning style as a model for thinking in the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment.

What can be said with some assurance is that Locke in general and the Second Treatise on Civil Government in particular had a profound impact on the American colonists—although a minority of scholars dispute this view. The Declaration of Independence, which Thomas Jefferson said was an expression of American sentiment, is a very Lockean document, for the principles embodied in the declaration can trace their origins back to the Second Treatise and its treatment of the inalienable natural rights of the people. Indeed, in the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, the authors refer to the “the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them.” The document famously goes on to state, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” These are words that could almost have been written by Locke himself. Later, after the American Revolution, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787 demonstrated knowledge of Locke's philosophy and embodied his principle of political compacts in such documents as the Federalist Papers. The Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution derive from Locke, and his Second Treatise is quoted directly where it says that no one shall be deprived of “life, liberty, or property” without due process of law.

Ironically—given that Locke is now considered a major Enlightenment thinker—the Second Treatise was not widely read in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and while many intellectuals saw his theories as important, many others dismissed them. Only in the twentieth century did interest in Locke revive, and his work is now considered foundational in the history of constitutional government.