Name: _____________________________________ Date: _______________
Social Studies 7 John Locke and Natural Rights
Directions: Read the passage and primary source below and use what you have learned from the selection to answer the questions.
John Locke was born on August 29th, 1632 in England and lived to become one of the most influential people in England and, perhaps, one of the most influential people of the 17th century. Before his death on October 28th, 1704 he would earn the title as the Father of liberal philosophy. His ideas would also be used as a keystone for the revolution of the North American colonies from England.
Locke wrote and developed the philosophy that there was no legitimate government under divine right. Divine Right asserted that God chose some people to rule on earth in his will as a monarchy. Therefore, whatever the monarch decided was the will of God. When you criticized the ruler, you were in effect challenging god. This was a very powerful philosophy for the existing ruler. But, Locke challenged in with his theories.
One of the most important ideas of Locke’s that influenced the founding fathers of the United States Constitution was the idea that the power to govern was obtained from the permission of the people. He thought that the purpose of government was to protect the natural rights of its citizens. He said that natural rights were life, liberty and property, and that all people automatically earned these simply by being born. When a government did not protect those rights, the citizen had the right and even the obligation of overthrowing the government.
If these ideas seem familiar to you, it is because they were incorporated into the Declaration of Independence by Thomas Jefferson. Once they took root in North America, the philosophy was adopted in other places as justification for revolution. The following is an excerpt of John Locke’s on natural rights:
1. Locke’s ideas were used as a keystone for what?
2. What was the divine right theory?
3. What ideas of Locke’s influenced the founding fathers of the United States?
4. When a government does not protect the rights of its citizens, what does Locke say people should do?
5. What document written by Thomas Jefferson was influenced by Locke?
6. Look at the primary source. What condition are “all men naturally in”?
7. Nature “obliges…all mankind” to do what when they are “being equal and independent”?