John+Locke

//Early Life //
 * //John Locke //** [[image:Locke.jpg]]

John Locke was born on August 29, 1632 to John Locke Sr. and Agnes Kneene in Wrington. His father was a lawyer, so Locke grew up with great privileges. Locke was of two children. His brother Thomas was born in 1637. His parents were Puritans. At the age of 15 (in 1647) he started to attend Westminster School in London. Through his years of study at Westminster he studied several languages including “Latin, Greek, Arabic and Hebrew.” His intensive studies led him to be elected to the King’s Scholars. In May 1652 at the age of 20 he began attending the prestigious Christ Church on of Oxford’s schools under a scholarship. While he was at Oxford, he joined the English Royal Society: a society that was developing new philosophy. Robert Boyle became the scientific mentor for Locke while he attended college. Tragedy then struck Locke: His mother, father, and brother all died. //Aft // //er College // In 1661, he got a job at his Alma Mater lecturing Greek and later rhetoric. After finishing working for the school he was offered several highly noted posts. He also began to write. He wrote a number of papers including //A Letter Concerning Toleration// (finished in 1667, published in 1689), //Essay Concerning Human Understanding// (written 1684-1685) //Aesop’s Fables//, and //The reasonableness of Christianity as Delivered in the Scriptures.// But perhaps one of the most famous things he ever wrote was published by an unknown source in 1690. This work would later become one of the woven fabrics in foundation of America. The //Two Treaties of Government// talked about the relationship of the government and its people, or a “social contract.” This contract states that as long as the government respects individual’s rights that are “life, liberty  and property” then the people don’t have a reason to rebel. However, if the rights are taken than people have the right to overthrow their government. //Lasting Impression on the world // John Locke’s accomplishments throughout his life have contributed, in a number of ways, to the overall system of government we use today. One of two of his most influential; publications, the //Two Treatises on Civil Government//, was essentially the basis of the United States’ own democratic structure and ideals. In this publication, Locke states that the only reason a government should exist, is to protect the “life, liberty, and property” of the people. Also, Locke says that should these not be respected, then the people have a right to rebel. This same text shows itself within the United States’ own Constitution, as the citizens themselves have, “the right to protest”.  Locke also had a theory on something called, //tabula rasa//, in which the human mind is supposedly, at birth, a clean slate (the literal translation to this would be “erased slate”). This meant that people had to learn how to process and use information all through personal experiences. Our modern idea of the same theory happens to stem off of John Locke’s own idea behind it. After his many successes he became increasingly ill and on October 28, 1704 he died at the age of 72. However his legacy lives on, in his many works. //Works Cited // Cortez, Felipe. //John Locke: A Teacher’s Guide//. El Paso: Center of Teaching & Learning, June 2009. PDF. "John Locke - Biography." //John Locke//. Web. 01 Apr. 2012. . "John Locke." //(Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)//. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Web. 01 Apr. 2012. <http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/locke/>. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 120%;">"John Locke." //World History: The Modern Era//. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 21 Mar. 2012.