John Locke wrote the Two Treatises of Government, published anonymously in 1689. The answer is d. Locke, not Rousseau, Montesquieu, or Hobbes, authored this foundational text of liberal political philosophy. It appeared in late 1689, though Locke wrote much of it during the political crisis of 1679 to 1683. The work defended parliamentary government and natural rights against absolute monarchy.
The mechanism behind the Two Treatises
Locke built the book to dismantle one specific argument and then replace it with another. The First Treatise attacks Robert Filmer's Patriarcha, which claimed kings inherited Adam's dominion over the earth. Locke showed that this hereditary claim dissolves once you examine it: no reliable chain of descent exists from Adam to any living monarch. The Second Treatise then constructs an alternative.
The core mechanism is consent. Locke imagines people first in a state of nature, a condition of equal freedom governed by a law of nature that all persons should preserve themselves and others. Because enforcement is uncertain, people contract to form civil society. They hand over only the power needed to punish violations, retaining their natural rights to life, liberty, and property.
This is the engine of the argument: government is a trust, not a grant of absolute authority. When rulers violate that trust, the people may alter or abolish the government. The reasoning runs from premise to conclusion with unusual clarity, which is why the text remains teachable after three centuries.
Quantified context: the political crisis behind the text
Locke wrote under real danger, and the numbers matter. The Exclusion Crisis ran from 1679 to 1681, when Parliament tried to bar James, Duke of York, a Catholic, from the throne. Charles II dissolved Parliament repeatedly to block the bills. Locke, secretary to the Whig leader Anthony Ashley Cooper, wrote early versions of the Treatises during these years.
The Rye House Plot of 1683, a conspiracy against Charles and James, triggered government crackdowns on Whigs. Locke fled to the Netherlands that year and stayed roughly five years. William of Orange landed in England in November 1688. The Treatises appeared in print in 1689, the same year the English Bill of Rights was enacted. Locke acknowledged authorship only in a codicil to his will in 1704.
That timeline matters for understanding the book: it was written to justify resistance during one crisis and published to defend a settlement after another.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1679–1681 | Exclusion Crisis; Locke drafts early treatise material |
| 1683 | Rye House Plot; Locke flees to the Netherlands |
| 1688 | William of Orange lands in England in November |
| 1689 | Two Treatises published anonymously |
| 1689 | English Bill of Rights enacted |
| 1690 | Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding appears |
| 1704 | Locke reveals authorship in his will |
Edge cases and the professional caveat
The most common academic caveat is compositional. Locke scholars long debated the dating of the Second Treatise, with some arguing it was largely written before 1680 and revised later. The consensus favors composition across the Exclusion years with later revision, so treating the book as a single-argument pamphlet written in one sitting is inaccurate.
A second edge case: the Treatises defend property rights but do not describe a full modern constitution. Locke offers principles, not a blueprint. Courts and parliamentarians later drew on the text selectively, which is why both American revolutionaries and defenders of limited monarchy could quote it.
A counterintuitive detail: the two treatises were not always published together as one coherent argument. The First Treatise, a demolition job on Filmer, is rarely read today. Yet without it, the Second Treatise's constructive claims lack their intended contrast.
Misconceptions about authorship and attribution
The chief misconception is confusion with the other three thinkers. Each wrote differently and about different problems.
Rousseau wrote the Social Contract (1762) and the Discourse on Inequality; he emphasized the general will, not Lockean consent. Montesquieu wrote The Spirit of the Laws (1748); that work is famous for separating powers, not for natural rights. Hobbes wrote Leviathan (1651); he used the state of nature but concluded that sovereign power must be near-absolute. Locke wrote the Two Treatises (1689); that is the text of limited government and revolution.
A related error: assuming Locke wrote the book under his own name. He published it anonymously, and the authorship became widely known only through later editions and his will. Students who cite "Locke, 1689" are correct for the publication year, but the composition history is more complicated than a single date suggests.
Comparison table
| Thinker | Key work | Main claim in one line |
|---|---|---|
| John Locke | Two Treatises of Government | Government is a trust; people may resist tyranny |
| Thomas Hobbes | Leviathan | Fearful people cede power to an absolute sovereign |
| Baron de Montesquieu | The Spirit of the Laws | Dividing powers protects liberty |
| Jean-Jacques Rousseau | The Social Contract | Citizens obey the general will they collectively form |
Practical application and thresholds
If you are studying the Treatises for an exam or a paper, several concrete steps help. First, separate the two books: the First Treatise is a refutation, the Second is a construction. Second, locate the specific passages that discuss the state of nature, consent, and the dissolution of government; these carry the argument's weight. Third, compare the language of the 1689 English Bill of Rights with the Second Treatise to see how contemporary politics shaped the text.
For legal and constitutional history, note that Locke's ideas influenced later documents, but direct causation is often overstated. Treat him as one significant source among several, including classical republicanism and common-law traditions. For dating questions, consult modern scholarly editions that summarize the composition debate rather than relying on prefaces from earlier centuries.
Plain-language version: read the Second Treatise first, then the First only if you want context; use the timeline above to place the writing.
Limitations of this account
The composition history of the Two Treatises remains debated in detail, and a short explainer cannot settle those scholarly disputes. The influence of Locke on later revolutions is real but complex, and popular summaries often exaggerate the direct line from his text to particular constitutions. Dates and debate timelines above reflect generally accepted scholarly accounts; specific manuscript chronology varies by edition.
This article is general educational information about political philosophy, not a legal opinion or professional analysis. Readers who need a scholarly or legal determination should consult a qualified academic or legal professional.
The Two Treatises on Government was written by John Locke, published anonymously in 1689, and remains the foundational statement of government by consent and a right of resistance to tyranny.