John Locke believed that the government should protect the lives, liberties, and estates of the people. He also believed that government should be limited to those things.
Locke’s ideas were revolutionary because he argued against the divine right of kings and for the sovereignty of the people. In his work Two Treatises on Government, he wrote:
The state of nature has a law of nature to govern it which obliges everyone: and reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions… That as much as is possible men should pursue their own happiness. The state of war is a state of enmity and destruction: and therefore declaring by word or action a design to destroy one another’s person or property makes him an enemy.
In other words, anyone who attempts to take away life or property from another person has made himself an enemy and must be dealt with accordingly.
Philosopher also argued that people had a right to liberty. This means that they could choose what kind of life they wanted to live, including whether or not they wanted to be religious or political. Locke also believed that people should have freedom of speech so that they could express their opinions without fear of persecution.
Moreover, Locke believed that people had a right to their property. He argued that this included land and money because these things were essential for living comfortably in society.
