John Locke 'Second Treatise of Essay

According to Locke man is born with a natural liberty that means he should be free from subordination to any "superior power on earth, and not to be under the will or legislative authority of man, but to have only the law of nature for his rule." (1632-1704)

Man's liberty in society is such that should not be ruled by a legislative power but instead "by consent, in the commonwealth…what the legislative shall enact, according to the trust put in it." (Locke, 1632-1704) Freedom from power that is "absolute, arbitrary" is deemed by Locke to be required and "closely joined with a man's preservation, that he cannot part with it, but by what forfeits his preservation and life together" and that man is not to become a slave through his own consent or the power of others. (1632-1704) According to Locke, God gave the world to all men and because of this all men have the right to make the best use of the earth and its contents to "support and comfort" themselves. Locke holds that no one person or group has a larger right or a right of private dominion that is "exclusive of the rest of mankind." (1632-1704)

III. Differences in Locke and Winthrop

John Locke held that government was none other than for the purpose of maintaining the public good and that this was only to be done through public consent of any actions taken by the government.Winthrop also states that government is for the public good however, he holds that the government's power should not be questioned and that reform was not desirable. Winthrop spoke from the perspective of the Puritans and with a focus that was on the Puritan community solely while the work of Locke speaks from the view of all American people and this is the primary difference in the two writings as Winthrop is speaking of justice and mercy among and within the Puritan group exclusively.

Locke holds that the purpose of government is to preserve the rights of man. Winthrop also holds this to be true. However, while Locke views man as having the right to prosper himself, Winthrop seems to believe that a man who is born poor is born so at the will of God and should not seek to rise from being poor into a position of being prosperous as God intentionally created some men with wealth and others to be poor.

References

Locke, J. (1632-1704) Two Treatises of Government in the former "The False Principles and Foundations of Sir Robert Filmer and His Followers are Detected and Overthrown. Retrieved from: http://www.citizensource.com/History/PreRevolution/SecondTreatise.PDF

Winthrop, J. (1630) a Model of Christian Charity. Composed aboard the ship Arbella, en route to the New World. Retrieved from: http://www.citizensource.com/History/PreRevolution/Charity.htm.....