Perspective

John Locke was a political writer of his time, during the seventeenth century. His father was an attorney, who had served in the Civil War, which is where it is believed that many of John's beliefs came from. He was in his fifties when he published Two Treatises of Government and had been living in exile in Holland and had just returned to England.

Locke's intended audience was the population of the time. His purpose was to refute the theory of divine rights and to publicize his own views of political economy and government. At the time, his book was controversial because Locke believed it was acceptable for a population to rebel against a government that was tyrannical. This was almost unheard of at the time.

The audience of today would not be scandalized at Locke's views. Revolutions come about in various ways, and today's world is accustomed...