

In the first paragraph of the “Preface,” Locke clearly states his purposes in writing. Locke published the work in 1689. In the Glorious Revolution of 1688, England’s Parliament deposed King James II and offered the throne to King William and Queen Mary. Locke considers the new monarchy lawful because the people consented and, in doing so, asserted and defended their “just and natural rights.” The first of the Two Treatises counters the arguments for absolute monarchy. In the Second Treatise, Locke argues for the right of the people to form their own government.


In Chapter 2, “Of the State of Nature,” Locke defines the natural state of men as one of perfect freedom and equality. He defines freedom as independence from the will of any other man. Locke claims that people have the natural right to decide for themselves what to do and what to own. Natural equality acts as the necessary premise for Locke’s ideas about government by common consent and for the good of the people. After all, if one person were naturally superior, that person might claim the rights to rule absolutely and to act only for his own good.


In Chapter 8, “Of the Beginning of Political Societies,” Locke argues that the earliest governments were formed by consent. To form a community, people give up some of their natural liberties and transfer those rights to a body politic, which then has the right to govern by majority. Locke counters the traditional view that the right to govern comes from God with the view that the right to govern comes from the people. Locke also grants people the right to modify and replace their governments. These radical ideas make Locke one of the forefathers of American independence.


In the last paragraph of the Second Treatise, Locke reaffirms the right of the people to “act as supreme” and choose their own form of government. Locke gives the people power to redress “miscarriages of those in authority” by removing from such authorities the right to govern. Locke specifically refers here to legislative power, or the power to make laws. The possible choice to “under the old form place it in new hands” reminds readers that England, in the Glorious Revolution, retained its parliamentary government while replacing the executive power, the monarch.