John Locke's Second Treatise Of Government

As Americans in the year 2018, it is hard for us to imagine living without all of our freedoms, especially the ones we deem inalienable. These rights are only a recent addition to society. Our ancestors lived in a time when they were restricted in many ways, especially in their speech. For many of our rights we can thank John Locke, one of the philosophers to inspire our founding fathers. John Locke lived in a time when he had to be careful about his writings on government because his works could be seen as treason. Locke wanted to avoid the possibilities of his works would being destroyed, by preserving them, they could be passed down for generations to inspire people to be leaders, to make a difference, and to stand for what he felt is right. In this paper I will analyze and reflect on chapter nine of Locke’s Second Treatise of Government. Throughout I will discuss what Locke understands to be the ends of government and how that affects our modern society. In the mid 1600’s until his death in the early 1700’s Locke had to be careful with what he wrote. John Lock]e was a brilliant and opinionated man, he wanted his thoughts to be known, but

Locke thinks civil law is superior to natural law because it outlines what is allowed and what is not allowed. Civil law does not allow men to interpret things for themselves. Turning to a government will always force one to give up some rights in order to endure safety and preservation of their possessions. Natural law lacks established and known laws, a known and unbiased judge, and the punishment of injustice. When entering a government, a man gives up two of his powers. The power to do whatever is necessary to preserve one’s life is given up in order to be under the rule of laws. The other power that is given up is the power to punish, this is given up because the government is meant to protect its citizens. These powers are given up in order to gain security and