USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Often credited as a founder of modern “liberal” thought, Locke pioneered the ideas of natural law, social contract, religious toleration, and the right to revolution that proved essential to both the American Revolution and the U.S. Constitution that followed.

Detailed explanation-2: -Natural Law and Natural Rights. Perhaps the most central concept in Locke’s political philosophy is his theory of natural law and natural rights.

Detailed explanation-3: -John Locke was perhaps the foremost philosopher of the Enlightenment. He believed that a government was legitimate only if the people it ruled consented to its authority. He also believed the government should protect the natural rights of citizens and that all individuals should be equal under the law.

Detailed explanation-4: -Among these fundamental natural rights, Locke said, are “life, liberty, and property.” Locke believed that the most basic human law of nature is the preservation of mankind. To serve that purpose, he reasoned, individuals have both a right and a duty to preserve their own lives.

Detailed explanation-5: -John Locke’s political theory directly influenced the U.S. Declaration of Independence in its assertion of natural individual rights and its grounding of political authority in the consent of the governed.