John Locke was basically a fugitive when he wrote it. That's the part people forget. We look at the Two Treatises of Government today as this dry, dusty cornerstone of democracy, but in the late 17th century, these ideas were straight-up dangerous. Locke wasn't just theorizing in a vacuum; he was justifying a revolution. He was writing to explain why it was okay—necessary, even—to kick a king off his throne if that king stopped doing his job.
Most of us grow up hearing about "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," but that's just Thomas Jefferson's remix. Locke’s original hit was "life, liberty, and property." He believed that the moment you mix your own labor with a piece of the earth, that thing becomes yours. It’s a simple thought that ended up building the entire modern world. Honestly, without the Two Treatises of Government, the American experiment probably wouldn't have a leg to stand on.
The First Treatise: Why Kings Aren't Gods
Nobody reads the First Treatise anymore. Seriously, even political science majors usually skip it. It’s a long, incredibly dense takedown of a guy named Sir Robert Filmer. Filmer had written a book called Patriarcha, arguing that kings were the direct descendants of Adam and therefore had a "divine right" to rule. It sounds ridiculous now, but back then, it was the standard operating procedure for European power.
Locke spent pages and pages basically saying, "Show me the receipts." He dismantled the idea that God gave Adam absolute power over the world and that this power somehow trickled down to King James II. It’s petty, detailed, and frankly, a bit of a slog. But it was crucial. Locke had to clear the intellectual rubble of the old world before he could build the new one in the Second Treatise. You can’t build a house of logic on a foundation of "because the Bible says so."
The Second Treatise and the State of Nature
This is where the real magic happens. Locke asks us to imagine a world before governments, before police, before laws. He calls this the "State of Nature." Unlike Thomas Hobbes—who thought humans were naturally miserable and violent—Locke had a slightly more optimistic view. He thought we were mostly reasonable. We have a "Law of Nature" written on our hearts that tells us not to harm each other's life, health, liberty, or possessions.
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But there’s a catch.
Without a central judge, everyone is the boss of their own case. If someone steals your cow, you’re the judge, the jury, and the executioner. That’s a recipe for chaos. Eventually, people get tired of the instability. They decide to form a "Social Contract." This is the core of the Two Treatises of Government. We give up a little bit of our freedom—the right to punish others ourselves—in exchange for the protection of a government that follows the rules.
Property: The Labor Theory of Value
Locke’s take on property is where things get controversial. He argues that the world was given to all of us in common. So, how do I get to call this specific apple "mine"? Locke says it’s because I put work into it. I picked it. I cultivated the tree. My labor is mine, so the things I mix my labor with become mine.
It sounds fair, right? But critics like C.B. Macpherson have pointed out that this logic also paved the way for "possessive individualism" and, darker still, was used to justify colonial land grabs. If you don't "improve" the land in the European sense, Locke's logic suggests it might still be up for grabs. It’s a nuance that shows Locke wasn’t just a hero of liberty; he was a man of his time, deeply invested in the economics of the 1600s.
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Why You Can Fire Your Government
The most radical part of the Two Treatises of Government is the right to revolution. Locke is very clear: the government works for us. We are the employers. If a government starts taking away property or acting like a tyrant, they’ve broken the contract. At that point, the "appeal lies to Heaven." That’s fancy 17th-century talk for "pick up your muskets."
This wasn't just theory for Locke. He was living through the Exclusion Crisis and the Glorious Revolution of 1688. He saw King James II flee and William of Orange take the throne. The Two Treatises of Government provided the intellectual legalizing of that regime change. It turned a coup into a principled transition of power based on the consent of the governed.
The Legacy of 1689 in the 21st Century
You see Locke everywhere. When you argue about eminent domain, you’re arguing about Locke. When you talk about digital privacy as a "property right," you’re using his framework. Even the way we view our relationship with the state—as a service provider rather than a master—is pure Locke.
It’s not a perfect document. Locke’s views on slavery (he was involved in the administration of the Carolinas) and his exclusion of non-protestants from certain rights are massive, glaring contradictions. We have to wrestle with the fact that the man who wrote the manual on liberty was also a flawed human who benefited from systems of oppression.
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Actionable Takeaways for Understanding Modern Power
If you want to actually use Locke's insights to navigate the modern world, start by looking at your own "social contracts."
- Audit Your Consent: In the digital age, we sign "Terms of Service" that function as modern social contracts. Are you giving up more "property" (data) than the "protection" (service) is worth? Locke would tell you to renegotiate.
- Labor and Value: Think about where your labor goes. If you are mixing your labor with a company's platform, who owns the result? The tension between corporate ownership and individual labor is the frontline of 21st-century law.
- The Limit of Authority: Remember that in Locke's view, no authority is absolute. Every institution—from your employer to your local city council—only holds power as long as it fulfills its specific purpose. The moment it oversteps, its legitimacy evaporates.
The Two Treatises of Government isn't just a book on a shelf; it's the operating system for the Western world. It’s buggy, it’s old, and it needs updates, but we’re all still running on it.
To truly grasp how these ideas impact you today, look into the specific legal history of "Property Rights" in your own country. Compare Locke’s Second Treatise with the "Declaration of Independence" side-by-side. You'll see the direct lineage of thoughts that created the modern citizen. Understanding this history is the first step toward realizing that if the government is a contract, you have the right to read the fine print.