1. JOHN LOCKE
  2. PETITION OF RIGHT
  3. DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
  4. U.S. BILL OF RIGHTS

Defender #1 - John Locke

Let's wind the clock back nearly 400 years and visit a man who wrote about what many consider to be our most valued rights in America. His name is John Locke.

A painting/portrait of John Locke, a man in late middle age with longish hair dressed in 17th century clothes.

Source: Locke-John-LOC, Wikimedia

He wrote a work entitled "Two Treatises of Government" in which he maintained that people enter a contractual relationship with their created government for better protection of their rights. For Locke, the only reason for a government to exist was to preserve and protect these rights, including life, liberty, and property. If any government should violate these rights of an individual, then the relationship was destroyed, thus leaving the individual free to rebel in order to establish a new and better government.

One of Locke's most famous quotes is below. Read it and respond to the question that follows.

"The great and chief end, therefore, of men's uniting into commonwealths, and putting themselves under government, is the preservation of their property."
--John Locke
Second Treatise of Government, 1690

Which of the following statements would John Locke most agree with?

  1. Private property turns people against one another and breaks down society. Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

    Check Your Answer

    Incorrect. Private property motivates people to form governments that protect their basic rights.Close Pop Up
  2. Governments are more important than private property. Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

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    Incorrect. Life, liberty and property are the most important values in a society. Governments exist to serve and protect these rights.Close Pop Up
  3. Governments should not be destroyed for any reason. Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

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    Incorrect. Locke believed that if governments ceased to protect basic rights, then people ought to rebel and establish new governments.Close Pop Up
  4. Protection of property is the goal of a government. Interactive popup. Assistance may be required.

    Check Your Answer

    Correct! Locke believed that governments existed to protect life, liberty, and property.Close Pop Up

Defender #2 - Petition of Right

A painting/portrait of King Charles I of England. He is a man in late middle age wearing armor, with long hair, and a goatee.

Source: Charles I (1630s), Sir Anthony van Dyck, Wikimedia

We now turn to a famous petition by a group of people who were unhappy that their rights were not being honored by the government. The document is entitled the Petition of Right. The Petition of Right was written in 1628 by the people of England to King Charles. They focused their complaints on three major issues:

Defender #3 - Declaration of Independence

A photocopy of the front page of the United States Declaration of Independence.

Source: Yale Dunlap Broadside, John Dunlap, Wikimedia

We now move forward to the year 1776. The American colonists drew the line in the sand. King George III of England had deprived them of their individual rights—the same rights that John Locke and the Petition of Right had focused upon—the rights to life, liberty, and property. In it, the colonists addressed their complaints to King George III and proclaimed their independence from England.

Here is the most famous excerpt from the Declaration of Independence. You'll see that it echoes John Locke's beliefs about human rights as well.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness . . ."

The writers go on and list 27 complaints against the King of England. On the left side of the table below are a few excerpts from the colonists' complaints. Returning to John Locke's three basic rights (life, liberty, & property), let's see how they play out in the Declaration of Independence. Simply click & drag the rights below to match up with the complaints against King George III. Some of the complaints may match with more than one of the rights!

Interactive exercise. Assistance may be required.

Defender #4 - Bill of Rights

A photocopy of the United States Constitutional Amendments known as the Bill of Rights.

Source: Bill of Rights Pg1of1 AC, National Archives

We now arrive at 1787. The colonists have won the war for independence against England and are now writing a new constitution. As they think about a limited government, it becomes more and more obvious that they need to add a Bill of Rights that protects the freedoms of citizens.

Rights to life, liberty, and property were just a little too vague. The writers of the constitution wanted to be more specific. So the Bill of Rights made it clear what rights the United States government could not take away. Let's review them quickly. Click on the link to play a fun game that reviews the U.S. Bill of Rights!

This activity might not be viewable on your mobile device.Interactive exercise. Assistance may be required. Bill of Rights

The game was an easy way to identify parts of the Bill of Rights. Below are segments of the Bill of Rights. See if you can correctly match them to the human rights they afford us. Simply click the human rights to match the correct phrases in the Bill of Rights on the left.