John Locke and the United States Constitution

Abstract

John Adams had invoked John Locke in his Thoughts on Government as third after Sidney and Harrington among the modern authors who would convince ‘any candid mind’ to embrace republicanism.1 Eleven years later he repeated his endorsement in defending the United States Constitutions, citing Locke’s ‘very valuable production’ on ‘the principles of government’.2 And his ‘acquaint[ance] with the ancients’.3 Adams praised Locke as defender of ‘the principles of Liberty’. But he also coupled Locke with Milton and Hume as ‘absurd’, when it came to proposing a positive programme,4 and insufficiently committed to ‘popular elections’ in the lower branch of the legislature,5 or the ‘existence and independence of the other two’ branches of government.6 Modern scholars have continued to take so great an interest in Locke, and his putative ‘republicanism’, that it is important to identify his exact relationship with America’s revolutionary generation.7 KeywordsPublic GoodUnited States ConstitutionLegislative PowerModern ScholarPopular SovereigntyThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.