John Locke

    John Locke was born on August 29th, 1632 in a cottage a few miles from Bristol, England. In 1647, at the age of 15, Locke was sent to London to attend Westminster School under the sponsorship of Alexander Popham, an English politician.

 Soon Locke was admitted to Christ Church, Oxford. Although he quickly became interested in philosophy, and soon became a member of the English Royal Society. Locke was awarded a Bachelor's degree in 1656, followed by a Master's degree in 1658. In 1674, Locke got a Bachelor of Medicine degree, having studied medicine at Oxford. In 1666, Locke met Anthony Cooper, the First Earl of Shaftesbury. Cooper, who had ventured to Oxford to find treatment for a liver infection, was surprised and pleased with Locke's talents. John Locke had been looking for a job in 1667 and soon became Cooper's personal physician, while still studying medicine. Soon Cooper's liver infection became much, much worse, and Locke persuaded Cooper to undergo an operation. Cooper lived and credited Locke for saving his life.

    During the year of 1671, Locke served as Secretary of the Board of Trade and Plantations and also as Secretary to the Lords and Proprietors of Carolina. This helped him shape his ideas on international trade and economics. Shaftesbury, a founder of the Whig movement, had much influence on Locke's ideas of politics. After Shaftesbury lost many followers in 1675, Locke traveled across France. Around 1679, Locke wrote most of Two Treatises of Government. His ideas about rights and government are often considered early for that period of English history. He used a lot of his time in the 1680's to write. Among the books he wrote were: A Letter Concerning Toleration, A Second Letter Concerning Toleration, A Third Letter for Toleration, Two Treatises of Government, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding and several other books. Locke soon became recognized as the famous philosopher he is today. On October 28th, 1704, John Locke passed away at the age of 72.

   Locke was important because he influenced many important people, such as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and several other Founding Fathers. John Locke also greatly influence America's own Declaration of Independence, because in some of his writings, he states that none has the right to harm another's, "life, health, liberty or possessions." Locke also believed that everybody should be free and independent, another aspect of the Declaration of Independence. John Locke was one of the most influential philosophers in history, and even now, America goes by Locke's belief's that everybody should be free.

           Sources

 Image:Locke-John

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Locke-John-LOC.jpg

Unknown Author.

Date accessed: 8-30-07

Date published: Unknown.

  John Locke

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Locke

Unknown Author.

Date accessed: 8-30- 07