—Treatises of Government
—attacked the divine right of kings and authoritarian government. He promoted a constitutional monarchy that derived its power from the law and from the consent of the people.
—Rights
—individuals had natural rights, which he referred to as “all the rights and privileges of the law of Nature.”
locke two treatises
Bullet #1  In his two Treatises of Government, Locke attacked the divine right of kings and authoritarian government. He promoted a constitutional monarchy that derived its power from the law and from the consent of the people. He also believed that a government’s primary responsibility was to protect individual property: he wrote, “The great and chief end, therefore, of men uniting into commonwealths, and putting themselves under government, is the preservation of their property; to which in the state of Nature there are many things wanting.”

Bullet #2  Locke believed that in the state of nature, individuals had natural rights, which he referred to as “all the rights and privileges of the law of Nature.” Locke claimed that one such right was to defend one’s “property” (which he defined as “his life, liberty, and estate”) against the “injuries and attempts of other men.” Locke built on this assumption, suggesting that if any ruler or government violated these natural rights, the people would have the right to change the government—by force if necessary.