Locke's Second Treatise on Civil Government. Locke argued for the idea that the people are ultimately the source of authority in governing, Thus the people also have the right to unseat a government that is not properly serving the nation's people. John Locke was arguing the idea of a "social contract." According to his view, a government's power to govern comes from the consent of the people themselves -- those who are to be governed. This was a change from the previous ideas of "divine right monarchy" -- that a king ruled because God appointed him to be the ruler. Locke repudiated the views of divine right monarchy in his First Treatise on Civil Government. In his Second Treatise on Civil Government, Locke argued for the rights of the people to create their own governments according to their own desires and for the sake of protecting their own life, liberty, and property.
The American founding fathers read Locke (as well as other Enlightenment writers). The American Revolution (1775-1783) and the ideas included in the Declariation of Independence and the Constitution were inspired by writers such as Locke.
