Their once lived a man named John Locke.
Their once lived a man named John Locke. He was born and lived in England, during the 17th
century. You may have never heard of him, and why would you? History does not record him
as a doer of daring deeds. He never led an army. He wasn’t known to conquer a nation, or
charge into battle, or brave the stormy sea. He was a scholar, and a philosopher. He spent his
life learning, and teaching, and writing, and thinking. He died today, 320 years ago. He died
from sickness, probably in his bed, at an old age, in a very boring way, in a land thousands of
miles away. So why am I telling you about him? Because without John Locke you probably
wouldn’t be here today, and without John Locke, America may have never been.
How can that be you might ask? John Locke died before any of our founding fathers were even
born. When Thomas Jefferson penned the poetic words that declared America’s independence
from Britain, John’s frail body had been decomposing in the dirt for 72 years. Notwithstanding,
John Locke was vital to the founding of our American Republic. How?
Because an idea is one of the most powerful things in the world, and the idea of America was
his, and John Locke wrote his ideas down. Our founding fathers studied his ideas. Ideas like
Human freedom, natural law, equality, Natural Rights, and the true purpose of government.
These ideas reverberated through our founding fathers hearts. These ideas helped them have
the knowledge and the courage to go to battle against the mightiest military in the world, and
the fortitude to win.
On this day in history, October 28th, 1704, 320 years ago today John Locke died. They planted
him in the ground. His ideas slowly germinated in the hearts of the lovers of liberty who lived
on this continents eastern shore. His ideas grew in their hearts and in their minds. His ideas
began to grow. In the mid 1770’s his ideas began to come into fruition, as Americans became
tired of tyranny.
Recite with me these words if you know them. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unaliable rights,
that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these
rights, governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of
the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is
the right of the people to alter or abolish it… These words, although written by Thomas
Jefferson, were inspired by the thoughts of John Locke. They meant certain death to the
Americans who upheld them, if they lost. They played for high stakes and won. The fought for
these rights because they were in the right and knew it.
John Locke died today, 320 years ago. His legacy though, lives on. It was planted in the hearts
of our founding fathers, and hopefully his legacy of freedom is still alive in your hearts today.
Rend Petersen