Second Treatise of Government

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Overview

John Locke's Second Treatise of Government, published anonymously in 1689, argues that legitimate government rests on the consent of free and equal people and exists to protect their lives, liberty and property. Where a ruler breaks that trust, the people may remove him. The work set out the language of rights and limited government that shaped later constitutional thought, and it remains the standard source for the idea that political power is held in trust.

Context

England had spent the seventeenth century in conflict over the powers of crown and Parliament. In 1688 James II was driven out in the Glorious Revolution, and William and Mary took the throne under terms that limited royal power. Locke's Two Treatises appeared in 1689, though the title page says 1690. The First Treatise attacks Sir Robert Filmer's defence of absolute monarchy; the Second sets out Locke's own account. Scholars debate how much was written before 1688.