John Locke's Second Treatise Of Government

John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government was penned during a turning point in English history: the change from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. This work was written in the days following the Glorious Revolution in England, in which King James II was overthrown by his daughter Queen Mary and her husband William of Orange (King William III). This revolution came about as King James II refused to allow the free practice of religion within England and William promised that he would do just that. King William III signed the English Bill of Rights and King James II fled to France, and thus there was a bloodless transfer of power between the two Kings and England became a constitutional monarchy. Locke’s thesis throughout his Second Treatise is to prove that King William III was right in his upheaval and overthrow of the previous King James II. His other purpose in this work is to counter the points made by Sir Robert Filmer in his prior work Patriarcha [2-3]. Locke states openly in his introduction that, “there cannot be done a greater mischief to prince and people, than the propagating …show more content…
Each chapter explains a different part of how a government should be formed, where its authority should come from, and when it should be overthrown. Locke begins his work by stating the origins of men in nature, or how mankind existed before entering into civil society. Locke outlines the extent of man’s freedoms in nature; according to Locke man may “dispose of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature, without asking leave, or depending upon the will of any other man. [4]” He then explains that man in the state of nature has no right to take his or any other man’s life. To threaten another’s life puts himself in a state of war with that man, which Locke as, “it being reasonable and just, I should have a right to destroy that which threatens me with destruction